Litany
by RabulaTasa
Summary: Fear is the mind killer. It is the little death that brings total obliteration. When Raven goes too far in punishing Beast Boy, can either one of them be saved from themselves? Apologies to Frank Herbert.
1. Cheerful and Optimistic, Right?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: There are two authors that I think I've borrowed enough from to need to cite them as sources for this story. The first author is El Queso de Malicioso, whose story All I Can See gave me the idea ages ago, as well as provided the "Raven flips out" scene that I unintentionally mimicked much more than I had the right to. The second author is Tammy Tamborine, whose story Sometimes, Love Needs Less is the source of an extremely important idea, without which this probably would be over after four chapters.

_I must not fear.  
Fear is the mind-killer.  
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.  
_-Frank Herbert

* * *

**_Cheerful and Optimistic, Right?_**

To his credit, the plan was ingenious. Never before in Titans history had such an elaborate string of events been so carefully coordinated and executed in the pointless pursuit of the perfect prank. Beast Boy had only made two mistakes. Unfortunately, as mistakes go, they were _deadly_ serious.

He had gone too far, and he had gotten caught.

It had started with a few little things, early in the morning. Her alarm clock went off five minutes earlier than it should, and wouldn't stop buzzing until she blew it up. A little grumpier than usual, she went down to the kitchen for her morning tea. To her considerable surprise, she found that the tea inside the bag had been replaced with something… far less pleasant. Her agitation only increased when Starfire entered the room, and gleefully congratulated the dark Titan on her "glorious decoration" on the back of her cloak. Puzzled, Raven examined her cloak and found an enormous happy face bleached into the fabric. Two portals later, however, the problem was rectified.

She muttered under her breath about "immature changelings" and sat down on the couch to read. Slowly, the rest of the team filtered in, until everybody but Beast Boy was present. After a few hours of blessed peace and quiet, the empath stood up and started to stretch, halting when she realized that the couch cushions had migrated along with her. _Someone_, it seemed, had managed to superglue them to her cloak.

_POOF!_

As it turned out, her entire cloak was covered in the sticky substance. When the pillows exploded, the cotton inside firmly attached itself to Raven, giving her an appearance not unlike Little Bo Peep's lost little sheep. Two portals later, and Raven was on her third cloak- before lunch, even. Twitching slightly, she turned to face the three Titans in the room.

"Where. Is. Beast. Boy." It was less of a question and more of an order laced with not-so-veiled death threats.

"Now Raven," said Cyborg, backing up a step. "You know how Beast Boy is- he's dumb enough to prank you, but not nearly stupid enough to hang around and get caught!"

Raven sighed. She'd have to kill him tomorrow then.

"I'm going to go meditate up on the roof. If you see Beast Boy… never mind."

And with that, she left the room.

_Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos._

The empath floated quietly up on the roof, no green superheroes in sight.

_Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos._

She cracked an eye open and looked around, just to be sure.

_Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos._

Hmmm. Has that rock always been up here?

_Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos._

I wonder… no! It's not important. Ignore the rock.

_Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos._

The rock isn't important. The rock isn't there. The rock _shouldn't_ be there.

_Azarath. Metrion. Zinth..._

Well, one tiny peek can't hurt.

Raven floated over towards the rock sitting innocently near the edge of the roof, pondering how it had gotten up here. Without a second thought, she picked it up.

_HONK! Psssssht!_

An air horn brutally shattered the peace, scaring Raven so badly that half the windows on the top floor cracked. The three cans of Silly String that sprayed all over her finished off the other half.

Four cloaks. He was going to _**get it**._

The rest of the day had gone by uneventfully- Raven had simply refused to leave the common room. If she didn't move, Beast Boy couldn't lay any traps for her to fall into.

How wrong she was.

Ten o'clock came around, and Raven decided to turn in for the night. Cautiously, she made her way to her room, feeling out every step of the way for any booby traps. Finally, she found herself at her door. She opened the door and jumped backwards, just in case something jumped out at her. Nothing did.

Nervously, she tiptoed into her room, looking around for any signs of trouble.

_Splash!_

A bucket of water tipped over, thoroughly drenching the unfortunate girl.

_HOW DO YOU DO THAT TO A SLIDING DOOR?!_

Forcing back the bubbling rage within her, Raven tore off her cloak and threw it in the pile. If she weren't going straight to bed, she'd be on her fifth cloak. Five reasons to kill that changeling tomorrow.

But for now, she needed some rest.

Raven levitated herself over her bed, and dropped into the soft comfort of her mattress.

Or she would have, if it had actually been there.

Raven fell _through_ her bed, landing on top of a small disk-shaped object underneath it. The device broke in two, and the holographic representation of her bed flickered and disappeared.

Alright, NOW she was mad. She had half a mind to turn the Tower upside down looking for the little green twerp. Actually, forget half a mind- she was doing it right now! Raven stood up and headed towards the door before freezing in her tracks.

The holographic projector hadn't only been projecting her bed. It was projecting on her walls as well.

Her freshly painted _bright_ _pink_ walls.

"**_BEAST BOY!"_**

* * *

Down in the basement, a certain robotic teenager was doing his laundry, minding his own business, when all of a sudden…

"Dude, I am the Master of Disaster!"

Cyborg nearly leapt out of his skin at the voice behind him , whirling around to face a grinning green changeling.

"Man, what are you _thinking_? Raven is going to _kill_ you when she finds you! I mean, silly string?"

Beast Boy climbed up on top of a washing machine, his grin growing even wider.

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it- especially when she finds my last surprise in her room!"

Cyborg's jaw dropped. Literally. He bent down to retrieve it and reattached it to his head.

"Her _ROOM_? Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

"Quite possibly. Oh, and I borrowed one of your holographic projector thingies-"

"YOU WHAT?!"

Just then, the pair heard a voice reverberate throughout the Tower, as if it came from the very walls themselves.

"**_BEAST BOY!_**"

Beast Boy gulped.

Cyborg gulped. And ran for the door.

Unfortunately, the room was encased in a black aura before he could make his getaway, and the cybernetic hero found himself face to face with an extraordinarily irate half-demon.

"Uh… h-h-h-hey Raven! W-w-what's up?" Cyborg nervously inquired.

She just stared at him coldly.

Beast Boy tried his hand. "So… how'd you like your room makeover?"

Cyborg spun around, his human eye bulging out of its socket.

"YOU DID WHA-AAUGH!"

A black portal opened underneath the robotic Titan's feet, sending him off to who-knows-where.

"Um, Raven? You _do_ know he had absolutely nothing to do with anything today, right?"

Raven didn't move. The walls, still encased in the black aura, however…

"**_Yes._**"

"So… you didn't ship him off to some meatless dimension, right?"

"**_He's in his room._**"

"Ah. So, um… hi?"

At this, Raven's eyes turned red and split into four glowing orbs of malice, while a host of black tentacles erupted from underneath her cloak. In a flash, Beast Boy was suspended in midair, his mouth covered and his face inches from Raven's.

"**_WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!_**"

Beast Boy's eyes darted around nervously before speaking through the magical gag.

"Phwry?"

At this, Raven's eyes burned even brighter, and a whole new batch of tentacles wrapped themselves around Beast Boy's helpless figure. His face was so close to hers he could almost feel the heat radiating from the demonic eyes boring into him.

"**_SORRY?! YOU'RE ALWAYS SORRY, AND YOU ALWAYS DO IT AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! GARFIELD MARK LOGAN, YOU! ARE! NOT! SORRY!_**"

Wait… how did she know his full name? Oh man, this wasn't going to be good!

"**_But you will be._**"

Beast Boy gulped. Definitely not going to be good.

"**_I've spent this WHOLE DAY looking over my shoulder for your childish pranks, Beast Boy. From when I woke up this morning to when I TRIED to go to bed tonight! I've had it up to HERE with your juvenile behavior! Perhaps it's high time you felt what I feel!_****_Maybe then you'll know to LEAVE. ME. ALONE._**"

Beast Boy's pupils shrank to pinpoints, then disappeared altogether. Seemingly satisfied with whatever she had done, Raven threw him against the back wall, which he hit with a dull "thud" before sliding down to the ground, unmoving. Raven's appearance reverted to its normal state- two violet eyes, extra cheese, hold the tentacles- and she teleported out of the laundry room.

A second passed before all the washing machines burst open, spitting their contents all over the room. If Beast Boy noticed anything, he didn't show it.

* * *

Raven heaved a sigh as she moved her bed back into her room from Beast Boy's. How he had managed to get it out of her room, much less into his, she would never know.

As she flopped onto her bed, she thought once more about Beast Boy's punishment. Maybe she was being too harsh on him- she did have a history of overreacting, after all.

_Maybe I should remove the spell… no! If you don't teach him now, he'll never learn. Spare the rod, spoil the child._

She thought about it some more, and decided to appease her guilty conscience.

_Alright, I'll remove it in the morning. Besides, it's just a minor fear spell. One night of mild anxiety and insomnia won't kill him. And besides, someone as cheerful and optimistic as Beast Boy can't have _that_ much in his memories to be afraid of, can he?_

With that issue resolved, she rolled over and fell asleep.

Down in the laundry room, a tiny green kitten huddled in the corner furthest from the door, mewling softly. Its wet, soapy fur gave it a very unhealthy look, but far less so than the eyes.

The eyes that darted around the room frantically, as though there were monsters in the shadows that only he could see.

_M-m-mommy? D-d-daddy? Why are you crying?_

The tiny wet kitten cowered even further into the corner, making itself as little as possible.

_Mommy? Mommy?!_

MOMMY!


	2. More than I Expected

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

_I will face my fear.  
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.  
_-Frank Herbert

_**More Than I Expected**_

* * *

_Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep be-BOOM!_

Raven was still having difficulty with her alarm clock, but paid the annoying device little thought beyond that required to dismantle it. Stretching her lithe form, she hopped out of bed and grabbed a cloak out of her closet.

She phased through her door and began to float down to the living room for her morning caffeine boost. A twinge of guilt stabbed at her as she passed Beast Boy's door, and she decided to lift the spell she had placed on him last night.

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Beast Boy?"

No reply came from behind the door. She tried again.

"Beast Boy, it's Raven. I'm not going to kill you."

Nothing.

"If you don't say anything in ten seconds, I'm coming in."

One.

Two.

Ten.

"I'm coming in- you had better be decent."

A black portal opened up in front of her, and Raven passed into Beast Boy's room. She almost teleported back out when the smell of weeks-old laundry assaulted her, but she steeled herself and searched for her teammate instead.

"Beast Boy, I'm not in the mood for games. Come out from wherever you're hiding so I can fix you up!"

She could almost _hear_ the crickets chirping in the background. Frustrated, she made a sweep of the room with her powers. The black aura left no stone unturned, disrupting every pile of dirty clothes, rustling through the rumpled bed sheets, and generally throwing things around in search of Beast Boy's hiding spot.

Wherever he was, it wasn't here.

_So where is he?_

* * *

_Monkey? Green. Pain! Crying? Mommy?_

_Pain._

_Snake! Mommy!_

_Kill. Kill! KILL!_

_Mommy?_

_Mommy, why are you crying?_

A small tortoise huddled in the middle of the floor, its head and limbs safely tucked away inside its shell.

* * *

Raven floated into the living room, looking around for any sign of life. All she found was Cyborg quietly eating his ham, sausage, bacon, and egg extravaganza. He spoke before she could get a word in.

"So did ya kill the kid?"

Raven's eyes widened imperceptibly. "Just a minor curse- I take it you haven't seen him?"

Cyborg shook his head, and swallowed a piece of meat. "'Fraid not, Raven. BB should have shown up to shove his tofu down my throat once he woke up and smelled the bacon. Did you check his room?"

Raven was slightly worried, but didn't let it show. "First place I looked. If you see him tell him I need to see him, alright? I just need to lift the spell."

He nodded. "Will do, Raven. Oh, and could you check the laundry room for me? The security system registered the machines critically malfunctioning right after you finished with BB- a parting shot, I'm guessing? Anyways, I know it's a long shot, but could you check to see if he cleaned up the mess?"

"I'll do that." With that, she turned and left. The laundry room made as much sense as anywhere else to check for Beast Boy.

* * *

_Fire! Fire! River! Rapids! Mommy! Daddy!_

_Dead. _

_My fault. Mine. All mine._

A large green jackrabbit shivered underneath the pile of wet and soapy clothes, its eyes flitting about nervously. It twitched slightly as it heard footsteps approaching the door in front of him. The footsteps stopped in front of the door, and the rabbit furiously backed into the pile of clothing so that no part of it was visible. The door opened, and someone walked inside.

"I can't say that I'm surprised," said a monotone voice. "It wouldn't be Beast Boy if he didn't leave a trail of destruction behind him."

With that unknowingly ironic statement, the half-demon began to clean up the mess. Piles of clothes levitated into the nearest washing machine while mops flew around the floor. She worked like this for a minute, and had almost finished returning the wet laundry to their proper places when she noticed something move out of the corner of her eye. She turned and looked at one of the piles of clothing in the corner. It was perfectly still. She almost dismissed it as a trick of the light or a figment of her imagination when she saw it again.

The pile had definitely moved. Not very much- just a twitch. But it had moved nonetheless.

Warily, Raven raised her hand, and with an aggressive shout, she ripped the pile up from the floor. She gave a cry of surprise when a large green rabbit shot out from the pile and disappeared out the door. She spent a second gathering her wits before muttering under her breath.

"Well it must have been an even weaker spell than I thought- he certainly seems up to his old tricks already."

* * *

Raven had been reading alone in the living room for two hours when Cyborg came in. Judging from the oil stains on his hands, he'd been working on the T-Car.

"Oh, Raven- Rob wanted me to tell you and BB that he and Star are gonna be out 'patrolling' for most of the day." Raven could almost hear the grin that had to be plastered on his face.

The robotic hero moved over to the kitchen sink and began washing the gunk off of his hands.

"So, did you have any luck with finding BB? I walked past the laundry room and saw that it had been cleaned up."

Raven looked up from her book. "Yes, I found Beast Boy, and no he didn't clean up the laundry room. I think he's feeling better- he was hiding in one of the laundry piles to jump out at me."

Cyborg stopped washing his hands and looked over his shoulder at Raven, giving the empath a blank look. "You… don't say."

Raven was slightly taken aback- her friend had gone from grinning like an idiot to deadpan faster than… well faster than _she_ did.

"Yes, I do. I picked up one of the piles of clothing and he darted out from under it. That is, unless we have an infestation of green jackrabbits I wasn't made aware of."

Cyborg's face remained unreadable. "I'll... I'll be right back. Gotta go check on something."

Raven raised an eyebrow and returned to her book. Five minutes later, Cyborg came in- the blank look now had a hint of worry on it.

"Raven, his sheets aren't wet."

She looked up at Cyborg. "And?"

"And the security system said that the washing machines spit out enough liquid to cover the floor with two inches of soapy water. His sheets should be damp, at the very least."

Raven was beginning to get a little worried, but held out for some hope.

"Well maybe he opted to sleep somewhere else- somewhere where he wouldn't get his sheets wet."

Cyborg shook his head, his expression growing more worried by the second. "No, the security system also didn't register the laundry room door opening again after you left. Raven, I don't think he left the room until you opened the door."

Raven closed her book, giving Cyborg her undivided attention.

In a voice that was almost a whisper, he asked, "Raven… what did you _do_ to him?"

The half-demon gave a small sigh. "Nothing big- I figured that a guy as overbearingly cheerful as Beast Boy wouldn't have too many terrible memories to dwell on, so I placed a small fear charm on him."

Cyborg just stared at her like she'd just announced that she was entering the Miss America Pageant. "You… did… what?" he whispered.

"A fear charm- he'll relive some mildly unpleasant memories and be nervous for a little while. Why?"

Cyborg continued to stare at Raven, his mouth gaping. Then he processed what she'd just said.

"You… you're joking, right? PLEASE tell me this is some horrible joke and that someone's going to jump out from the couch and tell me I'm getting punk'd. Oh hell_... anything_ but this!"

Raven didn't understand what Cyborg was talking about, but answered anyways. "No, I'm not joking. What's going on here?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he raced over to the main computer and punched in a series of codes. Raven heard a very loud rumbling, before the sunlight from the window suddenly vanished. She looked over to where the sun had been shining only seconds before to find a thick steel plate covering the window.

"Cyborg? What's going on here?"

Her question again went unanswered as their communicators went off. Robin's voice came out of Cyborg's arm.

"Cyborg, we just got notice that the Tower is on full lockdown- is everything alright back there?"

"Yeah Robin, we're just having a little incident with BB- we have to keep him inside the Tower and this is the most effective way to do it. I'll let y'all know when you can get back in."

"Alright. Robin, out."

Raven knew that she'd done something very wrong, but she wasn't sure what it was, and Cyborg wasn't exactly being forthcoming.

"Cyborg, tell me what's happening! Why are we on lockdown? What's wrong with Beast Boy? What did I do to him?"

The robotic Titan slowly turned to face Raven, his face once again completely expressionless.

"Raven… do you know _anything_ about Beast Boy's past?"

Raven thought for a moment. She had to confess, she did not. The time before the Titans wasn't something that they talked about much, if at all.

"Not much at all- just that he had a virus and the cure gave him the shapeshifting powers."

"Good God, Raven. No wonder he didn't leave the laundry room last night- the kid's got the most messed up history I've ever heard, and I've only heard half of it!"

Raven was shocked. Beast Boy? _Her_ Beast Boy? The annoyingly happy-go-lucky court jester with the attention span of a goldfish with ADD?

She shook her head and spoke once more to Cyborg.

"So, why are we locking the Tower down?"

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Raven, you know better than most how hard it is to find Beast Boy when he doesn't want to be found. And that's just within the Tower. Imagine trying to find his butt out in the city, where he could be a grasshopper or an aphid or a songbird, or anything else that wouldn't stand out because it's green. It'd be a nightmare, at the very least."

The empath nodded in understanding. "I'll do what I can to find him. If he's feeling as strongly as you say he will be, it shouldn't take too long."

Raven closed her eyes and began levitating a few feet off the floor. She cracked open an eye to see Cyborg looking over at her expectantly.

"By the way… I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't apologize to me; apologize to BB when we find him. And besides, I understand how you wouldn't know. The kid's almost as secretive as _you_ are. Took me two years and a _lot_ of talking to get what little I know out of him. Don't beat yourself up- just find him and fix him."

Raven nodded and closed her eyes, descending into her mind.

She had needed to meditate first, of course. Her calm outward appearance very effectively concealed the fierce emotional battle raging within.

And so, Raven found herself back in Nevermore, staring at the most bizarre thing she'd ever seen in her meditative career.

Seven of her eight primary emotions were gathered in one spot- that was strange enough. Weirder still was their behavior.

Happy was crying. Brave was crying. Anger was _comforting_ Happy and Brave. Wisdom and Intelligence were in shock, staring off into the distance. Rude was tearfully asking the yellow and brown emotions if they were alright, while Timid…

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?!"

Timid was screaming. Raven spun around to find the grey-cloaked emotion in her face, eyes glowing a vibrant red.

"NOW HE'S GOING TO DIE AND EVERYONE WILL HATE US EVEN MORE AND AND AND GRRRAAH!"

Timid spun around and stormed off, screaming incoherently at everything she passed.

Raven was thoroughly confused by this point. None of her emotions were behaving as they should be. And what worried her most was the one that was missing…

"You know, you really should have been nicer to him."

Raven's eyes bugged out as she spun around to face the red-cloaked emotion addressing her.

"Anger, where is-"

"She's off in her own little world, generally making things worse."

Raven was confused, a feeling that she was getting far more frequently than she liked today.

"Making things worse… how?"

"You're a smart girl, figure it out." The orange emotion piped up beside her, having given up on coaxing a word out of Intelligence and Wisdom.

"Actually, I don't have time for this anyways. Right now, finding Beast Boy is much more important than finding… oh."

Anger and Rude looked at each other.

"Well that was easy."

"Yep, message delivered."

Raven blinked. Message? What message?

"And now that _that's_ taken care of…" said Rude.

"… it's time for you to get out!" finished Anger.

Raven felt a sensation suspiciously similar to the feeling of being kicked in the rear end before finding herself back in Titans Tower.

* * *

"Perfect timing, Raven." Cyborg's voice snapped her back to reality.

"How so?" she inquired.

"Some news about Beast Boy."

Raven looked at Cyborg, her expression unreadable.

"Well the good news is that security just found him."

_And the bad news..._

"And the bad news is that security just found him."

Raven blinked. "How is that bad news?"

Cyborg groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Because security found him leaving the Tower through an air vent twenty seconds ago."


	3. The Unkindest Cut of All

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: I apologize to those of you whom I told that I would update soon. Feel free to blame CalliopeMused for writing too well for me to realize the time. _Dance of the Skeletons_ is so good, it's illegal in twenty-eight states, Guam, D.C., _and_ Puerto Rico.

_And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.  
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.  
Only I will remain._  
-Frank Herbert

* * *

**_The Unkindest Cut of All_**

Raven was half out of her mind with frustration.

"If he left twenty seconds ago, WHY ARE WE STILL HERE?!"

Cyborg stood his ground and began counting off his reasons with his fingers.

"One, you were meditating, and we both know you're going to need all your powers at your disposal to catch the grass stain. Two, he can fly, and you can fly, but I can't fly. Three, the Tower's lockdown takes some time to deactivate and neither one of us can get out until that happens."

Raven stared coldly at Cyborg.

"One."

The steel plate covering the window exploded away from the tower. Cyborg gulped- that wasn't supposed to be possible, according to the design specs.

"Two."

A black aura wrapped itself around Cyborg's torso.

"Now Raven… let's think this through…"

"Three!"

"AAAAHHHH!"

Raven and Cyborg shot out of the Tower like cannonballs, coming to an abrupt halt above the Jump City Bay. Raven looked around frantically for a green bird, while Cyborg frantically tried to avoid short-circuiting.

"Where is he- I don't see him!" shouted Raven.

Cyborg calmed his nerves down enough to speak. "His communicator's in the Tower still, so we aren't going to find him that way. If we're lucky, he's flying. That means we at least have a _chance_ of finding him. Worst case scenario- he's swimming, in which case we're in _serious _trouble."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Why is him swimming bad? Wouldn't that mean he's moving more slowly?"

Cyborg shook his head. "That has nothing to do with it. If he's flying, he has to go to the city before we'll have trouble finding him. If he's swimming, he can go deeper and farther than any of us can- even with the T-Sub."

Raven realized immediately what he meant. If Beast Boy turned into a giant squid or some other denizen of the deep, he might never come back up. She quickly made her move.

"Raven- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Finding Beast Boy."

Cyborg's facial expression was one of shock. Before his very eyes, suspended in the air, was Jump City Bay. If it was within a thousand meters of Titans Tower, it was about three feet higher than it was a second ago. Quickly, Raven began sifting through the water, psychically scanning the raised portion of the bay for any signs of intense emotion…

"There!" Raven pointed directly East, towards the mainland. With a crash, a couple billion tons of water returned to its original position around the Tower. Raven dashed off through the air towards the swift moving emotion she had felt, with Cyborg trailing behind her.

The two touched down on the sandy shore, with Raven's mind going a mile a minute.

_My God what have I done I've killed him I've killed him oh God oh God oh God please don't die please be alright!_

Either Cyborg was psychic, or he was noticing the sand around them melting as a black aura covered it. Regardless, he knew precisely what Raven was thinking without her saying a word.

"Don't beat yourself up, Raven. You didn't know. Hell, I hardly know, and I'm his best friend!"

"This wasn't supposed to happen," she sobbed. "At the very worst, he should have felt like he was watching _Wicked Scary_ again- not this!"

Suddenly a terrible thought struck Raven and she stiffened in horror. Without warning, her legs gave out and she fell down to her knees, sobbing.

"My God, he'll never forgive me for this… for doing this to him…"

Cyborg knelt down and comforted his friend, trying to get her on her feet as quickly as possible. The longer they hesitated, the harder it would be to catch Beast Boy.

"Raven, he'll never hate you- it's just the kind of guy he is. You'll fix this up, there'll be a tearful apology, a mailbox will explode-"

"Terra. He's going to relive Terra." She broke down sobbing again, aghast at what she had done to her friend. Cyborg swiftly grabbed her wrists and pulled her to her feet, looking her in the eye.

"You underestimated your strength, Raven, and you definitely underestimated Beast Boy's past. But believe me when I say that whatever you do, whatever happens, he'll forgive you. It might take some time and some good old fashioned begging, but he _will_ forgive you for this. Trust me on this one, Raven. Beast Boy's probably one of the kindest, most forgiving people I know. The real problem is going to be forgiving yourself. Can you do it?"

Raven looked down at the sand and wiped the tears from her eyes. When she looked back up her face was dry, but her bloodshot eyes betrayed her guilt, and her grief.

"If anything happens to him… if he's hurt because of this, or damaged because I was stupid and cruel and thoughtless… I don't think I'll be able to."

* * *

_Guilt. Pain. Hunger. Fear._

_I don't want to steal for them. I hate it. I hate them._

_But it's better than the beatings._

A green dog nervously stuck its head out of the aluminum trash can in the alley, whimpered, and sank back out of sight.

* * *

Cyborg and Raven combed the streets for Beast Boy as thoroughly and as quickly as possible. Neither one was having much in the way of luck- neither Cyborg's infrared sensors nor Raven's psychic sweep were bringing up anything of use. The closest they had come was when Raven sensed a cat being chased by a dog, but further investigation revealed that neither animal was green.

"Don't worry, Raven. We'll find him." The cybernetic hero addressed his teammate's unspoken thoughts.

_And I'll never play another game of hide-and-seek as long as I live!_ he silently added.

The pair continued their sweep, leaving no stone unturned (literally) as they combed through the city. They were nearing the two-hour mark when it hit them.

_BOOM!_

Raven let loose a uncharacteristic cry of surprise as a bus flew through the air and collided with Cyborg, sending him flying a good two hundred yards down the street. The pair had been so intent on their search that they had failed to notice the heavy footsteps behind them, or the creaking of the empty bus as it was lifted and thrown.

Raven did, however, manage to turn around just in time to see the red steel fist collide with her head.

* * *

_Pain. Anger. Danger! Her!_

_Claws. A scream. Nothing._

_Rage._

The trembling green rat sat upon the rancid pile of garbage, eyes squeezed tightly shut. Soon, the vision passed, the emotions passed, and it returned once more to reality.

Then the rat opened its eyes, and saw before it the scene that had so recently haunted his nightmare.

* * *

To say Adonis was pleased would have been an understatement. Not only had he successfully snuck up on two of those _loser_ Titans, but he'd managed to get the girl as well! He knew- with a knowledge born of knowing- that she'd be _completely_ at the mercy of his _manly_ charms and his _ripped_ physique. The only thing that could make this even _more_ perfect would be if that pathetic stringy loser Beast Butt was around to beat up!

Adonis slung the unconscious Raven over his shoulder and turned to leave- they'd be staying at _his_ place for the night, of course. He'd taken two steps before his final wish was granted- the little green guy was there to beat up!

But he wasn't so little right now. And neither were those fangs…

Somewhere between Adonis' legs, his suit developed a short circuit due to excess moisture.

* * *

Cyborg shook the cobwebs loose from his head, slightly dazed from being hit with a flying eight ton bus.

"Who… what… how… huh?"

The robotic Titan shakily stood up, completely confused as to what exactly was happening.

Then he heard _the roar_.

Yeah. He definitely knew _that_ roar.

"Raven!" he cried, before running towards the roar as quickly as his four hundred pounds could conceivably move.

He arrived on the scene just in time to see the Beast transform back into his friend, before collapsing next to a red pile of scrap metal… and an unconscious empath.

"Beast Boy! Raven!" Cyborg dashed to his two friends, intent on making certain that they were alright.

Beast Boy, however, had other plans.

* * *

_Pie._

_A Ferris Wheel._

"Slade…"

Cyborg froze, staring at Beast Boy, hoping that he wasn't thinking about what Cyborg thought he was thinking about.

_Mirrors. Mirrors everywhere. Slade everywhere._

"Raven. Wake up Raven. _Wake up Raven!_"

Raven moaned and sat up, a nasty bruise discolored the side of her face.

"What… happened?" she asked.

"Not now, Raven. Beast Boy's going through Terra again!"

Raven's eyes snapped wide as she spun around to see the green changeling behind her. He was curled into a fetal position, whimpering.

"_Perhaps she wanted to keep you… as a pet._"

"Whatever you're going to do Raven, NOW would be an _excellent_ time to do it!"

Raven crawled over to Beast Boy and placed a glowing hand on his head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Please… I'm so sorry…"

"_Slade was right. You don't have any frie-_"

Raven's eyes glowed brightly, and the spell was broken.

Beast Boy's eyes snapped open, and the first thing he saw was Raven.

But he didn't see the little violet-eyed girl crying softly on her knees in front of him.

All he saw were four red eyes, a billowing cloak, and innumerable sinister tentacles reaching out to drag him into the darkness.

The spell was lifted, but the damage had already been done.

* * *

The pain she felt when he frantically scrabbled away from her was beyond description.

The misery that tore her into pieces as he hid from her behind Cyborg's bulky frame was even worse.

But the worst agony came as she looked into his eyes. Eyes that had once smiled at her now looked upon her in abject terror. Eyes that were once full of life were hollow, empty, and dead. She was General Sherman to his soul's Atlanta, and now there was nothing left behind but a burning pile of crumbling debris. He had trusted her, and she had repaid that trust with a dagger in his back.

It was the unkindest cut of all.

Raven sat in the street, completely oblivious to everything around her. She didn't say a word as Cyborg collected up his frightened friend and carted him back off to the Tower. She almost didn't respond to her communicator as the robotic hero paged her, but that action was an automatic reflex that had been firmly ingrained into her psyche over the years. And while she was still distraught after he hung up, his words managed to give her a sliver of hope.

"He'll be alright, Raven. He's going to forgive you- I promise. All I need from you is your solemn promise not to interfere until he's ready. Oh, and don't get angry at me for going into your room. There's something in there that he'll need."

She'd agreed without second thought. He could do anything he wanted to- she didn't care in the slightest, as long as he could help Beast Boy.

That was all that mattered anymore.


	4. The Big Guns

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

_Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure._  
- Marianne Williamson

* * *

**_The Big Guns_**

Cyborg had originally planned on immediately talking with Beast Boy about his ordeal as soon as they got back to the Tower. However, that plan went out the window as soon as Cyborg saw just how shaken up his friend was.

So instead of talking, the pair sat silently on the couch, trying to relax. Cyborg had procured a veritable smorgasbord of snack foods and sodas, as well as a video of one of Beast Boy's favorite stand-up comedy routines. An hour later, the video was done, and about half of the junk food had been consumed. Cyborg ascertained that his friend had calmed down enough to talk a little, and initiated the conversation.

"So," he started, "you feeling any better?"

Beast Boy didn't reply. Cyborg began to worry, thinking that his gregarious friend was suddenly mute. He was about to repeat the question (just to be safe) when the changeling spoke.

"No."

Cyborg groaned inwardly. He really wanted to do this without bringing out the big guns.

"Well, tell me how you're feeling at least," he request.

Beast Boy took his time to reply, but Cyborg was expecting that.

"I… really don't know," he finally said. "I guess confused, scared, and betrayed would sum it up nicely."

Cyborg winced, but let his friend continue uninterrupted.

"I remember everything that I saw… that I heard. When I wasn't trapped in a flashback I was… I can't describe it. I felt… hunted. Like I was fleeing from an invisible phantom that would strip the flesh from my bones and leave my remains to bleach in the sun."

Beast Boy hesitated, as though he expected Cyborg to say something. Nothing was forthcoming, so he continued.

"Most of the time I was stuck in a blind panic. But when I found shelter, it was even worse- that's when the flashbacks came. Everything I ever wanted to forget- that monkey, the first time I killed, my parents' death, the jewel thieves, the Beast…"

He choked a little bit.

"…Terra's betrayal."

Cyborg laid his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder, doing what he could to comfort the changeling.

"But the worst thing wasn't the flashbacks. I mean, they were some of the most horrible things that have happened to me, but they've already happened. They've happened, and I've gotten past them, for the most part.

"No, the worst was when I was lucid enough to ask myself how someone I trusted with my life could do this to me."

"She didn't know."

Beast Boy stiffened, then began to whisper.

"She didn't know, but she should have known better."

Cyborg had nothing to say to this. Beast Boy was right about that. They sat in silence for another few minutes before Cyborg spoke up again.

"She's really broken up over this- I don't think I can convey just how sorry she is."

Beast Boy gave a bitter laugh.

"That's ironic- the last thing I remember before she broke my brain was her yelling at me about 'being sorry.' Sorry isn't enough this time, though. How can I trust her again, knowing that she can even conceive of doing this sort of thing? As it is, I can't even look at her without freaking out."

Cyborg cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that? Is the spell still there?"

"No, it's not that. I mean, I don't think it is. If It were, I'd be afraid for my life right now, I think. As it is, I'm just… numb. And when I looked at Raven in the city… I couldn't see her. I mean, I could _see_ her, but I couldn't see _her_, if that makes any sense. I saw the demon that attacked my mind, not the girl I knew and… trusted."

Cyborg suspected that Beast Boy was about to say something besides "trusted" in that last sentence, but wisely decided to let it slide. There was a time and a place for teasing, and this wasn't it. It was, however, the time and place for bringing out the heavy artillery.

"Beast Boy, I'll be _right_ back. Don't you move a muscle, _comprende_?"

Beast Boy nodded, and Cyborg dashed from the room.

* * *

Even though he had permission to do whatever he wanted, the robotic Titan still hesitated a second before entering Raven's room. It wasn't out of fear- she had learned her lesson, he'd wager- but out of the distinct feeling of not belonging in there. Still, what must be done must be done, and he opened the door.

Stepping inside, he scanned the domicile for his target. He knew she wouldn't leave it hanging out in the open, so he'd probably have to do some digging.

_I don't think it'd be wise to rummage through her dresser- reformed woman or not, it's just not smart to dig through a half-demon's underwear drawer._

With that little thought out of the way, Cyborg moved to the nightstand by the bed. He opened the drawer and began to search.

_Diary? Hmmm, sealed shut. Probably a good idea, all things considered. Well, well- I wasn't expecting lip gloss, that's for sure. A picture of the team? Oh look, she's smiling! She didn't even notice Beast Boy giving her bunny ears. It took him weeks to stop joking about Mumbo's hat._

_Oh. What's this?_

Cyborg hit the bottom of the drawer, but his sensors weren't fooled. He knew for a fact that the drawer should be six and a half inches deep, but he'd only found five and three quarters. That meant…

_False bottom. Come on, Raven- you're cleverer than this! I mean, your underwear drawer would have been infinitely more secure, that's for sure. Ahh, here it is!_

Clutching his prize behind his back, Cyborg beat a hasty retreat back to the living room.

Beast Boy was deep in thought when Cyborg returned, pondering many things, but particularly…

"What am I going to do when the others get back? You said Robin and Starfire were 'patrolling'…"

Beast Boy allowed himself the smallest of grins. Even his current funk couldn't fully suppress his amusement at Robin's obvious infatuation and current predicament.

"… and Raven has to come back _sometime_, probably before I've gotten over my issue with her…"

"That," Cyborg said, "is why I just invaded Raven's room."

Beast Boy looked at Cyborg as if he'd just announced that he was made of cheese.

"Now, before I show you this, I'm going to remind you of something. Raven really is sorry. Actually, she's beyond sorry- the girl blew a hole in the Tower's lockdown looking for you. So, when you see her next, even if what you see is four eyed and tentacled, you're safe. Keep that thought in the forefront of your mind and we might get out of this intact."

"Cyborg, what the devil are you going on about? I thought you said Raven wasn't in the Tower. And why on earth did you go into her room?"

Cyborg whipped out what he'd grabbed from Raven's nightstand, and Beast Boy's eyes went wide.

"You're certifiable, Cyborg. You know that?"

A glowing red claw erupted from the mirror in Cyborg's hand, and with a flash, Beast Boy was gone.

* * *

Raven didn't remember moving from the street. She didn't remember how she got to the local ice cream parlor. To say that she was more than a little surprised at her surroundings when Cyborg snapped her out of her stupor would have been an understatement.

"Hey Raven, how you holding up?"

Raven looked around at her table before responding.

"I've got six empty one-pint cartons of chocolate ice cream that I don't remember eating. Take a guess."

Cyborg gave a nervous chuckle. At least she had her sarcasm. That was good, right?

"Well, I just sent Beast Boy off- except for a few outstanding issues, he's alright."

Raven knew what he meant by "outstanding issues." The look that Beast Boy had given her before Cyborg carried him home left her with no doubt about that.

"What do you mean by 'sent off?' If anyone should be kicked out, it's me- not him!"

Cyborg shook his head quickly. "No, no, nothing like that. Nobody's leaving the team, got it? He's just getting some… intensive therapy. No, I won't explain further, you're just going to have to trust me on this one."

_Like I have a choice._

"So, what do you want from me, Cyborg? I'm guessing that this isn't just a social call."

"Well, it sort of is- I was worried about you, Raven. But yeah, I do have a favor to ask."

"Yes?"

"Find a way to calm your nerves that doesn't involve meditation. You can come back to the Tower and read a book or something. Don't worry- you won't run into Beast Boy, not until you two are both ready."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea- I mean, what if he hears me and that sets him off again?"

Cyborg laughed.

"Raven, just trust me here. There's no way your coming to the Tower will have any effect on him. Just come on home. If you really want to numb your mind, rot your brain out with some video games or something. And before you ask- no, there isn't a bet between any of the rest of us concerning you and video games."

Raven rolled her eyes and sighed. She really wasn't in the mood for arguing.

"Fine, I'm on my way back."

"Attagirl."

* * *

Beast Boy landed on the floating rock with a crash. Pulling himself to his feet, he looked around. It looked just like the last time he'd been here, except that the evil pigeons were gone.

_I don't suppose I can get to the Forbidden Door without running into Raven… damn Cyborg!_

Beast Boy began his trek through Raven's mind, walking towards the nearest portal he could see. He hesitated briefly before walking through. What greeted him on the other side took his breath away.

A rotting strawberry floated past his shocked face, the only sign that he was in Happy's domain. What had once been jokingly referred to as the land of air fresheners now looked more like a 1918 Argonne Forest. The green grass had been replaced with smoking craters, the formerly lush trees had been charred to a crisp, and even the nearby burbling brook sounded sad. The sky had been bright and sunny during his last visit, but now it was a starless, moonless nighttime monstrosity. Beast Boy hurriedly made his way through the blasted landscape, desperately trying to find the way out. Unfortunately for him, the trail that led the way had been completely obliterated, and he quickly got lost.

And because of this, the portal he finally found didn't take him towards the Forbidden Door, but only deeper into Raven's mind.

Unbeknownst to Beast Boy, his passage through the land of Happy was observed by a woman in a black cloak, who sank into the ground as he left.


	5. Magical Mystery Tour

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: Yes, it's filler. But it's _important_ filler!

_The only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance._

-Franklin Delano Roosevelt

* * *

_**Magical Mystery Tour**_

Raven and Cyborg sat on the couch in silence, finishing off the junk food left over from Beast Boy's therapy session. Cyborg's recommendation of video games as a mind-numbing tool proved to be quite effective. After twenty three rounds of _Soul Caliber IV_ (Cyborg 19, Raven 4) thirty two rounds of _Super Smash Brothers: Brawl_ (Cyborg 17, Raven 15), and sixteen rounds of _Marvel vs. Capcom 3_ (Cyborg 3, Raven 13), Raven had finally become distracted for Cyborg to stop worrying about a nervous breakdown.

Cyborg laughed inwardly. Raven having a nervous breakdown? God help Beast Boy if she did!

When he picked up the controller again, he gave a slight shiver at the thought, then put it out of his mind.

* * *

Robin and Starfire sat on the bench in the park, each holding the other's hand and each lost in the other's eyes… or mask.

Cyborg never did call them about the Tower not being locked down anymore.

They weren't complaining.

* * *

Beast Boy, however, was complaining.

"Dude, why is it _me_ that always gets chucked in here? C'mon, give me a break!"

His departure from Happyland had led him to a part of Raven's mind that he'd never been before, although he was certain he'd met its resident. The room he was in was somewhat reminiscent of Robin's training room, except for the little fact that it looked like a T-Rex and a tornado hit it at the same time.

Dumbbells were shattered and scattered all about- some hanging from the ceiling, some lay on the floor, and some left only the hole in the wall behind as a sign that they'd ever been there in the first place. The punching bag was off the chain and lay in pieces next to a boxing ring that had _definitely_ seen better days. Glass lay on the floor near the walls- the mirrors that had covered them had shattered. Beast Boy couldn't find a single thing in the room that hadn't been completely and utterly destroyed, and it worried him far more than he would openly admit. How could something like this happen in Bravery's domain?

Beast Boy continued on through the room, until he reached a door that had been almost torn off its hinges. He briefly contemplated going back into Happy's realm rather than move forward, but curiosity led him onwards. The changeling opened the door and strode purposefully through the portal behind it.

From under the boxing ring, a woman in a black cloak stuck her head out and glanced around nervously before closing her eyes and sinking into the floor.

* * *

Raven had finally tired of playing Cyborg in video games (although she would never admit that she had been anything _but_ tired of it) and had retreated once more into the literary landscape.

Cyborg had realized that Raven probably should be reading something a little… lighter… than her usual reading habits pointed her towards. He'd pointed her towards some of his favorite books instead. As one might expect, sci-fi was a favorite genre of his, and Raven soon found herself immersed in the provided literature.

* * *

Beast Boy's next stop reminded him very much of what his room would look like, if it were a field. There was at least two acres of land covered in garbage, rubble, and refuse. The place stank like a landfill, its malodorous stench assaulting the changeling's sensitive sniffer. Thinking quickly, he shifted into a vulture (his reasoning: they're used to this kind of smell) and flew into the air. Finally spotting the only exit from this wretched realm, he turned into a falcon and dove as quickly as he could for the portal. If his eyes hadn't been watering from the smell, he might have seen the female figure stand up from underneath the considerable pile of trash to watch him before she too took her leave.

* * *

It was getting late, and under any other circumstances, Robin would have been worried about the Tower- Cyborg _still_ hadn't given the all-clear.

But this wasn't any other circumstance. This was _this_ circumstance. And the sunset was almost as beautiful as the girl leaning on his shoulder, sighing contentedly.

* * *

"Woah."

Beast Boy was as articulate as ever in expressing his amazement. He'd seen some impressive things in his time, but this was _definitely_ one of the more remarkable sights. Yes, it was dark, dank, and dusty, and like the other three realms he'd been in it had been ransacked. Nonetheless, the sheer volume of information that the seemingly infinite rows of endless shelves must have normally contained astounded him.

_I knew Raven was smart… but DAMN!_

Yep- as articulate as ever.

He slowly walked through the library, an astonished expression on his face as his eyes roamed the stacks. All around, books lay on the floor, covers and spines broken and ripped apart, torn pages littered the area, and in some cases entire shelves had been tipped over onto their neighbor. As Beast Boy continued, the apparent destruction only worsened, until he finally reached what he could only surmise was the source of the damage- the information desk. Of all the things in Raven's library, this alone was untouched. The changeling inspected the desk, trying to see if there was anything interesting on it that would explain what was going on. Unfortunately, Beast Boy couldn't find anything that would shed any light as to the source of the wreckage. The Forbidden Door had been forgotten- now he wanted to know why Raven's mind was such a mess.

Beast Boy walked away from the desk and spied a heavy wooden door fifty feet off. He approached it and tugged on the handle, leaping out of the way when it toppled over and landed where he'd been standing a moment before. He wasn't surprised in the least to find another portal behind the door, and began to walk through it when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He quickly spun around, trying to catch whoever had been watching him, but to no avail. Warily, he backed into the portal, and into the next realm.

A woman in a black cloak poked her head out around the bookshelves- that had been far too close for her tastes. Nervously, she pushed the thick glasses she wore back up onto the bridge of her nose before sinking into the floor.

* * *

Cyborg looked down at his arm- the clock read 22:32. He wished he could get it off military time, but for some reason he'd forgotten to program that in when he'd built it. Mentally writing himself _another_ note telling him to rectify that particular error, he stood up and walked over to where Raven lay sleeping on the couch.

He looked down at her, debating whether or not he should wake her up- the couch wasn't uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but she might not appreciate being in the living room when Robin and Star came back.

Speaking of which, where were those two?

Shrugging off the question for the time being, Cyborg made his decision regarding Raven. He picked up her book and folded the page before setting it down on the floor beside her. Then he went off to the linen closet and grabbed a blanket from one of the shelves. Draping that over his friend, he turned out the lights and headed back to his room.

_Sweet dreams, Rae- for your sake as well as BB's._


	6. The Stuff Dreams are Made of

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

_Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubts; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair._

-Douglas MacArthur

* * *

_**The Stuff Dreams are Made of**  
_

_01:24_

Back in Cyborg's room, the android peacefully recharged his batteries for the new day ahead. As he'd entered sleep mode last night, he had been completely confident that his plans would work as he had expected. After all, he knew his friends well enough, and the prediction software he'd personally designed was more than capable of giving a reasonable guess as to the outcome of his actions.

Certainty is a beautiful thing- just like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Michael Jackson, and the Easter Bunny. And just like those four, it has absolutely _no_ place in the real world.

Raven was a lucid dreamer- she was generally aware that her dreams were just that- dreams. It was a necessary precaution that prevented her from destroying the Tower in her sleep, and she was able to remain a lucid dreamer as a side effect of her constant meditation.

Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten much meditation in lately, and her mind was frazzled from the emotional beating she had been giving herself over what she had done to Beast Boy. This factor, combined with her emotional state and plain old bad luck, resulted in a very unfortunate circumstance.

Tonight, Raven wasn't dreaming lucidly. Tonight, Raven's mind was under the impression that the images and sounds flashing around inside her head were _real_. Tonight, Raven's emotions _would _ be affected by her dreams. Tonight, Raven was having nightmares.

Tonight, the unfortunate changeling inside her head was going to get the scare of a lifetime.

On the couch, the violet haired empath began moaning unhappily.

"Beast… Boy…"

* * *

This new realm was easily the most frightening one that Beast Boy had found. He found himself walking down a prison corridor, with rows and rows of empty cells. Each cell was full of graffiti… very unpleasant graffiti. None of it bears repeating, but the general gist was enough to make Beast Boy stop reading almost as soon as he started- such vicious messages could only come from Anger… and they were all directed at Raven.

"What's going on with you, Raven?" he asked himself out loud.

As if in response, the light bulbs over his head blinked out, plunging the prison block into total blackness. The cell doors began slamming themselves open and shut, creating an eerie ruckus to accompany the dark. Then, as suddenly as they had gone out, the lights came back on. All of the cell doors were still, and all of them remained open.

Save one.

Beast Boy's curiosity won over his common sense, and he advanced to the secured cell and peered inside. His eyes went wide as he saw what lay inside. A black-cloaked emotion sat on her bed, her back facing Beast Boy. Sensing that she was no longer alone, the woman turned to face her visitor. Both prisoner and guest leapt back in surprise at the sight of each other. Beast Boy was surprised at her haggard appearance, manacled limbs, and muzzled face. The emotion, however, was surprised that she had a visitor at all- surely, she didn't deserve one.

"Beast… Boy…"

The changeling took a wary step towards the cell.

* * *

Raven tossed and turned on the couch, groaning miserably.

In her dreams, the half demon stood as the hapless witness to a horrible crime. She had been sitting invisibly on a laundry machine in the Tower basement, watching Cyborg and Beast Boy joke and laugh with each other. Then a flash blinded her. When she opened her eyes, the laundry room and the robotic teenager were gone- there was only Beast Boy, Raven… and Raven. A very angry looking Raven. The violet haired empath watched in horror as her pissed-off counterpart turned into an eighteen-foot incarnation of rage and fury, tentacles waving menacingly at the changeling as she slowly advanced on him. Without thinking, Raven threw herself between the green Titan and her alter-ego.

"No! Get back!"

Her angry self didn't respond, only continuing her slow march towards Beast Boy. Raven tried to use her powers to fight herself, but found that she couldn't bring them to bear. That left her with only one option- she spun around, grabbed his wrist, and shouted.

"Run!"

* * *

"No! Get back!"

Beast Boy halted his advance towards the cage at the sound of the voice. He couldn't tell where it was coming from- obviously not from the black-cloaked Raven, as her mouth was still gagged.

A snapping sound made him forget the voice for a second. He looked around, confused, and heard it again. This time around, it was followed by the sound of chains hitting the floor. Looking at the caged emotion, he saw that her restraints had fallen off, and lay in a pile on the ground in front of her.

"Umm… what's going on?" he asked, backing up slightly.

The emotion's eyes flashed red, and tentacles sprouted from beneath her cloak, reaching for him through the cell bars. Beast Boy was paralyzed with fear, standing stupidly as the angry emotion struggled to remove the bars of her prison and attack him. Suddenly, he felt an urgent pressure on his wrist and heard the voice once more.

"Run!"

The voice didn't have to tell him twice- Beast Boy was off like a shot down the corridor, the muffled screams of his pursuer fading off into the distance. Finally, he reached a portal and jumped through it.

Back in the cell, everything was back to normal. The emotion was once again shackled, violet-eyed, and angry beyond words at who she was. Her back again faced the cell door, and the tears that she wouldn't let anyone see her weep began to flow once more. The lights went out again, and when they returned the cells were all open and empty. Somewhere in the prison, a new piece of graffiti appeared.

* * *

Robin lay on his back, staring at the starry sky above. Starfire had long ago fallen asleep, and was currently using him as a surrogate teddy bear. His blush reignited as she nuzzled his shoulder and hugged him tighter.

"Mmmm… Robin…"

_Mmmm… Starfire…_

* * *

Beast Boy was breathing heavily, but he wouldn't let himself stop running- not as long as that grip on his wrist told him to keep moving. After leaving Anger's prison facility, he'd found himself facing a mountain that would have dwarfed Everest. He'd begun to run up the mountain when the approaching rumble of a rock slide convinced him to take flight instead. Soaring into the sky, he made a beeline for the mountain's pinnacle. The flight was tiring, but he was rewarded with another portal at the top. Not pausing to think about which emotion would reside atop a crumbling mountain, he flew straight into the next realm.

_A courthouse?_

Beast Boy halted, taking the time to study the scene before him. A faceless judge in a white robe rattled off a series of offenses in a disinterested monotone-

"On the count of rudeness in the third degree… guilty."

A strangled sob erupted from the defendant's table.

"On the count of being creepy in the second degree… guilty."

Another sob. Beast Boy began to make his way to the crying figure, but was suddenly halted by the appearance of a two-faced statue in a police officer's uniform before him. Before he could react, four hands grabbed him and tossed him through another portal. The last thing he heard before leaving was the judge's continued tirade against the crying emotion.

"On the count of attempted murder in the second degree… guilty."

The figure sobbed once more.

* * *

Dream-Raven was distraught- she'd lost Beast Boy! She had only let go of his wrist for a second, and in that instant he had simply vanished from sight. Frantically, she flew around, hoping beyond hope that she found the changeling before _she_ found him.

And then she saw a shape move in the shadows.

"Beast Boy?"

Four red eyes lit up, effectively answering her question. No, it wasn't Beast Boy. Raven tried to attack, but once again found herself without powers. She turned to run, but _something_ caught her leg and lifted her into the air. She let out a panicked cry as she was sent flying. She hit the ground rolling… and rolled into a hole. Shaking the cobwebs from her head, she took in her surroundings.

Alright, she was in a hole. She jumped. No, she couldn't reach the top. She closed her eyes and focused. No, she couldn't levitate. As a last resort, she tried to climb to the top by digging her hands into the muddy walls. She almost reached the top before her grip failed her, and she fell back to the bottom. Resolutely, she tried again. And again. And again. Each time, she got precisely one foot from the top of the hole before falling back down.

_Now I know how Sisyphus felt._

She got back to her feet and tried again. She wouldn't… she couldn't let Beast Boy get caught and killed by her alter ego just because she couldn't get out of a dirty hole in the ground.

Her fingers slipped, and gravity reasserted itself once again.

* * *

Beast Boy pulled himself up from the grass, bracing himself for yet another horror. Surprisingly, he found nothing of the sort- just blue skies, puffy clouds, bright sunshine, and a hill with a tree on it. It was almost… no, it _was_ peaceful. And it was certainly a welcome change of scenery from… well, everything. Walking confidently towards the tree, Beast Boy felt a sense of… belonging. He didn't know why, but something just felt _right_ about this place- especially compared to all that was so _wrong_ everywhere else.

Reaching the tree, he looked around. Surely, this realm's resident was here _somewhere_. Maybe she would know what the hell was going on around here. He took ten steps from the tree before falling through the ground.

The surprised changeling landed on his butt at the bottom of the pit. He wasn't surprised at the pit- the way he figured, _something_ had to be wrong with this place, just like everywhere else.

No, Beast Boy was surprised at the six year-old girl dressed in white staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Umm… hi? I'm Beast Boy… wait, you know that- you're Raven! Gah! Sorry, I'm a little… wait- who are you?"

The girl stuck out her hand in a business-like manner. Not wanting to be rude, Beast Boy shook it.

"I'm Hope, and I think we can help each other out of this mess."


	7. Of Formatting and Disembodied Voices

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: Just a slight change in format- _italicized words are either Hope or Raven (depending on the point of view) instead of thoughts, _'which are in apostrophes.' Your sanity is one of the sacrifices I'm willing to make to have disembodied voices in this story.

_Never fear shadows. They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby. _

- Ruth E. Renkel

* * *

**_Of Formatting and Disembodied Voices_**

Raven sat in the bottom of her hole, fuming. She had worn a perfectly level ring all around the pit through her attempts to escape before conceding that it wasn't going to work. Her powers still didn't work, and her shouts for help were answered with an eerie silence.

She cradled her head in her hands. "God, I hope that at least Beast Boy's alright."

Her train of thought was derailed when the aforementioned changeling landed at her feet. Before she had a chance to register his sudden appearance he was standing up, staring at her, and stammering.

"Umm… hi? I'm Beast Boy… wait, you know that- you're Raven! Gah! Sorry, I'm a little… wait- who are you?"

Raven blinked in confusion. Who did he _think_ she was- a different Raven?

_I'm Hope, and I think we can help each other out of this mess._

Raven blinked again. That voice… sounded uncannily like herself.

'Who is this Hope girl?' thought Raven, 'and why can't I see her?'

Her thoughts were interrupted as Beast Boy spoke up.

"Hope, huh? I don't think I met you the last time I was down here. What's with the white outfit? I thought only… never mind, you can explain once we're out of this hole."

'And how does he plan on doing tha-'

Raven gave a slight squeak of surprise as the green gorilla threw her up and out of the hole. Whatever she had expected of her friend, it had _not_ been that.

_Hee hee! That was kind of fun Beast Boy!_

Raven didn't particularly care for this "Hope" girl. For one, she seemed like a shameless flirt. And giggling? Ugh.

"So," said Beast Boy, "there's your mess taken care of…"

More giggling.

"Or maybe not. What's going on with this place, anyhow?" he asked. "I mean, this is the first domain I've found that hasn't been absolutely trashed."

_That's Raven's doing, I'm afraid._

'At least she's not so damnably chipper anymore,' thought Raven. Then a realization struck her. 'Wait, what mess? What am I getting blamed for here?!'

Raven was about to vocally express her indignation when, once again, Beast Boy simply vanished, leaving her standing alone once more in the featureless black landscape.

Behind the half-demon, off in the distance, four red pinpoints of light flashed in the darkness.

* * *

"Why would Raven be trashing her own head? _How_ would she be trashing her own head?" Beast Boy was, to say the least, confused. Then he remembered something…

"Wait! Anger's cloak wasn't red anymore- it was black!" he was on to something- he just knew it!

Hope shook her head. "Self-Loathing," she corrected.

Beast Boy cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"Anger isn't Anger anymore, she's Self-Loathing. The reason Raven's mind is in such a state is because all of her emotions have become corrupted. Anger became Self-Loathing, Rude is Shame, Timid is Guilt, Brave is Fear, Intelligence is Doubt, Wisdom is Uncertainty, Happy-"

"Dude! They got Happy?!"

Hope sighed. She had hoped he wouldn't interrupt her. "Everyone was changed. Happy is Grief now. I'm the only one whose change didn't lead to 'the dark side'- hence the reason they're all in black, and I'm not. Subtle, isn't it?"

"This sounds like some messed up version of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' to me."

The white-clad emotion groaned. "I was _really _hoping you wouldn't say that."

* * *

Robin awoke with a start. It took the Boy Wonder a few seconds to figure out why he had awoken. Then, it hit him.

Starfire was floating a foot above their makeshift bed, the object of her affection still tightly in her grasp. Robin, unlike the beautiful alien, was not immune to gravity. The resulting rotational force had placed him in quite a predicament indeed- Robin was dangling below Starfire. He began to despair of getting any sleep at all- the position was fairly uncomfortable, after all- when whatever was making Starfire hover began to dissipate. Slowly, she came back to Earth, coming to rest upon the hapless leader of the Titans.

No, Robin was _definitely_ not getting much sleep tonight.

* * *

"So you're telling me," said Beast Boy, "that Raven's mind looks like something from a B-rated horror flick because _why?_"

Hope sighed. She sincerely hoped he'd get it this time. "Because she feels absolutely terrible about what she did to you, is worried that she irreversibly damaged you, and is afraid that you'll never forgive her."

"So… this is my fault?"

Hope growled under her breath. Suddenly, a brick wall appeared beside her. She turned to face it, and began to hit her head on it.

"No, ow. It's, ow. Not, ow."

She turned back to face Beast Boy and the wall disappeared.

"So… it's _not_ my fault?"

Hope smiled.

"Well _that's_ a first!" Beast Boy seemed to be very proud of that fact, if his puffed out chest was any indication.

Hope giggled at the changeling's silliness, before adopting the more serious tone frequently associated with Raven.

"The most important thing to do right now, however, is to get you out of here."

Beast Boy was, to say the least, slightly surprised.

"What?! Why?"

"Simple- Raven's mind is collapsing on itself," Hope answered. "If it goes while you're in here, you'll be stuck here forever. Now, I'm what you might call an expert on Raven's hopes and wishes, and 'I hope Beast Boy is safe' is a higher priority than 'I hope the world doesn't explode' and even 'I hope Beast Boy can forgive me.'"

"I do, by the way."

"So, as you can see, my top priority is getting… wait, what did you say?"

Beast Boy looked at the diminutive Raven.

"I forgive her."

Hope was skeptical. "No way you're forgiving Raven _that_ easily- I mean, that's faster than even _I_ could have hoped for!"

"Well, the other emotions kind of left quite the impact. I mean, what Raven's doing to herself is just as bad- if not worse- than what she did to me. What kind of person would I be if I coldly turned away from her when she needed a friend more than anything else? She did everything she could to help me, I can do no less."

Hope was amazed. "That's… amazingly mature. Raven's very lucky to have a friend like you."

Beast Boy blushed and turned away. "Er… thanks!"

If he'd been looking, he would have seen the flush of red on Hope's cheeks as well. After a few seconds passed, they both recovered enough to continue on.

"So, if I tell Raven that I've forgiven her, will it help?"

Hope nodded. "Immeasurably. As an added bonus, it's another reason to get you out of Raven's head as soon as possible."

Beast Boy nodded, and the two continued walking in silence. That is, until Beast Boy spoke up once again.

"Hey, out of curiosity, which emotion were you originally? You never did say, after all."

Hope's eyes widened at the question. "Uh-"

"And why are you so short?"

Hope folded her arms and let out a 'hmph!'

"You're one to talk about being short- even Raven's taller than you."

Beast Boy laughed. "Yeah, but not for long! I'll be growing like a weed in no time… and no green jokes."

Hope adopted an air of injured innocence. "Would _I_ do that?" she asked, placing a hand on her chest.

"Yes."

"Hmph. Well fine, if you _must_ know, I'm a midget because adult white Raven is off limits for anyone but Raven. Some big deal about 'being whole' and all that jazz."

The rest of the distance to the Forbidden Door was traveled in silence, with Hope furiously hoping that the changeling wouldn't remember that his first question hadn't been answered- it was painful enough lying to Beast Boy about her size. The truth was that she was so small because Raven refused to acknowledge her existence- if Raven couldn't accept her, it was too much to hope for Beast Boy to be able to. There was a miserable irony in the incarnation of Hope lacking faith, but there it was all the same.

* * *

Raven could sense her alter ego somewhere nearby. Her powers still eluded her, but the hairs standing up on the back of her neck were all the warning she needed. Warily, she continued her search for Beast Boy. Suddenly, she heard a voice off to her right. Moving as quietly as possible, she approached the voice.

_Well, here we are. You know what you need to do, right Beast Boy?_

"Yep- get out and talk to Raven as soon as possible."

_Good luck!_

Raven caught a brief glimpse of Beast Boy, and was about to call to him when some_ thing_ materialized in front of her.

Some _thing_ with four red eyes and tentacles. Tentacles that, at the moment, were dragging a gagged Raven under a billowing black cloak.

* * *

Hope watched as Beast Boy walked towards the Forbidden Door. She had little doubt that Beast Boy would be able to set things right. He walked through the swirling portal…

"Um… Hope? It's not working." He illustrated his point by jumping in and out of the portal a few times, then sticking his arm in and waving it around. Hope cursed under her breath.

"What was that?" shouted Beast Boy, having been able to tell that Hope had spoken, but not well enough to make out what she had said.

"I said," the emotion shouted, "that the door doesn't work while Raven is asleep!"

Beast Boy walked back from the portal and stood next to Hope. "So…"

Whatever Beast Boy was about to say was interrupted as the ground began to shake violently.

"What's going on?!" he cried out, his eyes wide open in a panic.

Suddenly, six women in black cloaks appeared in a circle around the pair.

"Raven's having a nightmare."

Shadowy tentacles emerged from underneath the corrupted emotions as they began their advance.


	8. A Mazing Grace

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: I'm running out of fear quotes!

_As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others._

-Marianne Williamson

* * *

**_A Mazing Grace_**

Pain and fear. Agony and terror. These were the two ideas that made up Raven's world as she entered her alter ego's robes. Images flashed through her head- her deepest fears replayed before her very eyes. Raven watched, helpless, as she destroyed the Tower, the Justice League, and then the world- accomplishing what her father had failed to do. She cringed as she saw herself ripped apart through slow, agonizing tortures that only demons could devise. She watched as Beast Boy never forgave her for what she did to him.

And she despaired.

* * *

"Ok Beast Boy, here's the plan…"

"Run like hell?" The changeling wasn't a coward, but he knew that if _one_ Raven could kick his butt, _six_ would probably spell disaster.

"Sort of- _you_ run like hell, I'll hold them off."

Beast Boy looked at Hope as if she'd just announced her undying love for Starfire's cooking. "You're crazy if you think I'm going to do that."

"I told you- my top priority is getting you safe- if it requires me to-"

"Take on six pissed off Ravens? Right. Not going to happen."

Hope glared at her green companion. "I don't recall asking you if you approved."

"Well since you put it _that_ way…"

Hope gave a surprised squeak as her torso was enveloped in a giant green hand. Before she could register what was happening, a green gorilla was charging across the mindscape with her in its hand.

"What do you think you're doing?! They'll _kill_ you if they catch you!"

Beast Boy's only response was to throw Hope onto his back and transform into a horse. Hope clutched tightly to his mane, shouting as loudly as she could to be heard over his galloping hooves.

"If I stay with you, they'll follow me and get you! You've got to let me go!"

A black-cloaked emotion materialized in front of Beast Boy before leaping out of his path to avoid being trampled.

"See? The longer I stay with you, the more danger you're in! I'm getting off!"

Hope moved to dismount, but Beast Boy's quick reactions prevented her from escaping. Soon, the diminutive emotion found herself being carried by the back of her cloak in the mouth of a sprinting tiger.

"Beast Boy…"

Whatever protest Hope was planning on giving in regards to her less than dignified position was cut off as a wall appeared in front of Beast Boy. He gracelessly slid into it and bounced off, dropping Hope and returning to his human form.

"Good God, Beast Boy- I _told_ you to let me go!"

"Oh yeah," snapped Beast Boy, "because Raven's mind is going to be hunky-dory once she loses Hope, right?"

The emotion pouted. He _did_ have a point, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"And besides, we're safer in Timid's maze than anywhere else, I'd imagine. If I remember right, it's kind of hard to find your way through here." Beast Boy stood up and began to walk deeper into the maze. "You wouldn't happen to have any string on you, by any chance?"

Hope got up and followed the changeling, ignoring his last comment. "We should probably get ready- we'll probably run into Guilt some time soon."

Beast Boy looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Why Guilt?"

"Because she's Timid and this is her maze, perhaps?"

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly, giving a nervous chuckle. "Heh, yeah- I should've remembered that…"

The pair continued to walk for a few minutes before the silence was broken once more.

"Hey Hope- why were you so certain that the other emotions were after you and not me?"

She raised her hood to hide her face. Explaining why the other emotions wouldn't harm him would be… problematic, to say the least. She did some quick thinking and came up with a semi-plausible excuse.

"I'm the only emotion not caught in the nightmare- if I'm gone, then Raven will be consumed."

"Which sounds like a great reason to not let you out of my sight."

Hope gave a surprised blink. What was the boy talking about?

"Without your presence, I'm trapped here, and Raven's insane."

"And that's precisely why she must die!" a voice hissed behind them. The pair spun around to find themselves face to tentacle with Guilt.

"Raven doesn't _deserve_ to hope- not after what she's done!"

* * *

_04:35_

In one of the many rooms of the Tower, something stirred. Or, more precisely, some_one_ stirred.

Cyborg's red eye illuminated as his systems booted up. His momentary puzzlement at his early start-up was quickly answered by a rumbling that came from his lower abdomen.

"Heh," he laughed. "Guess it's time for Cy to raid the fridge!"

Smiling to himself, the cybernetic teenager made his way to the kitchen, mentally making a list of the multitude of ingredients that would go into his sandwich. As he passed Starfire's room, a terrible thought struck him- he hadn't told his leader that the Tower was off of lockdown! Immediately, he dialed Robin on his arm.

Robin was a very light sleeper, and his current position under Starfire- while comfortable- did little to lull him to sleep. As a result, he was able to answer his communicator almost before the first ring had completed. Checking quickly to make sure the alien princess as still asleep, he turned to the device in his hand. He kept it closed, restricting the output to audio feed alone.

"Robin here- what is it?"

"Robin! Man, I'm _so_ sorry I forgot to call earlier! The Tower's off of lockdown- you two can come back anytime you want to."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah- for now, at least."

"Robin, out."

Moving as little as possible, the Boy Wonder slipped the communicator back onto his belt. He probably should go back to the Tower, but something kept him from moving the red-headed beauty lying on top of him. Sighing happily, he went back to sleep.

Starfire listened to his quiet snoring for a few minutes before daring to open her eyes. Contrary to what Robin thought, she hadn't slept a wink all night- she was far too excited to get any rest.

Smiling to herself and giggling silently, Starfire squeezed Robin a little tighter and resumed her act once more.

She was sweet, kind, innocent, and naïve, but the alien princess knew what she wanted, and was more than devious enough to get it.

* * *

Beast Boy was getting tired- Guilt was very fast, and it was taking all of his animal agility to keep himself between her and Hope. He found it very strange that the dark emotion was unwilling to touch him, but he didn't hesitate to use the fact to its full advantage. Every tentacle that Guilt sent out to attack Hope with, he leapt in front of and forced its retreat. After some time, their attacker grew frustrated and confused.

"WHY?" she shrieked. "Why do you defend her? How _can_ you, after all that she's done to you!?"

"Because," Beast Boy shouted back, "she's my friend, and I don't want her to get hurt!"

Guilt froze as Beast Boy said this, and the tentacles disappeared under her cloak. Briskly, she walked up to the changeling and stared intently into his face- four red eyes boring into two green.

"She deserves to get hurt. She's cruel, thoughtless, and uncaring. She's earned everything we've done to her, and everything we're going to do."

"Raven made a mistake," Beast Boy conceded, "but so have I. She's forgiven me every time I've done something terrible to her, and I've forgiven her for her mistake."

Four red eyes went wide, and merged into two violet orbs.

"You… forgive Raven? You've forgiven… us?" Her fingers nervously played with the edge of her black cloak as she quietly asked the question. Beast Boy reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I have. I've forgiven you for everything you've ever done, and for everything you ever will do. Please- don't take away my best friend."

Hope's eyes got wide, but she was behind Beast Boy, and her reaction went unnoticed by the changeling. Her eyes went even wider as he pulled Guilt into a hug- the dark emotion's mouth hung open in shocked surprise before she instinctively hugged him back. When they separated, her cloak was once again its normal grey.

"Th-th-thank y-y-ou," she stammered. "I-I-I was a-a-afraid that-"

"Don't be," interrupted Beast Boy. He flashed a smile at the nervous emotion, who returned the expression, albeit in a much slighter fashion.

"We should probably go find the others," said Timid. "They'll need to know too."

Beast Boy and Hope nodded in agreement, and the three began to wind their way through the maze.

* * *

Pain and fear. Agony and terror. These were the two ideas that made up Raven's world. But suddenly, it didn't feel quite as bad as it once did.

She no longer despaired.


	9. Verbiage and Vivacity

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

_Grief has limits, whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what we know has happened, but we fear all that possibly may happen._

-Pliny the Younger

* * *

_**Verbiage and Vivacity**  
_

_04:45_

Cyborg sat at the kitchen counter, polishing off the last of his signature five-foot meatball sub and going over the plan in his head.

Truth be told, he had expected Beast Boy to have come out of Raven's mind hours ago, and the changeling's continued absence from this plane of existence worried the android slightly more than he was willing to admit. He had briefly considered going in to check up on his friend, but realized that he'd be much more useful out in the real world- especially if Robin and Star found out. Yes, _IF_, because Cyborg had absolutely _no_ intention of spilling the beans.

He hadn't lived to the ripe old age of 19 by being an idiot.

Cleaning up the mess he had made in the kitchen, Cyborg allowed his gaze to drift to the couch. He paused, wondering if he should wake up Raven and see if she was alright. The idea was dismissed as quickly as it arrived- waking her up and getting her irritable wouldn't help Beast Boy in the slightest, and he could always wait until morning to discuss whatever was going on in her head.

With that decision made, the cybernetic hero returned to his room and went back to sleep.

On the couch, Raven let out an almost inaudible whimper- one that translated into an earsplitting scream inside her mind.

* * *

Beast Boy and Hope made their way through the convoluted passageways of the maze, with Timid leading the way.

"And the time I threw you out the window last Thursday? I'm sorry about that too."

Hope laughed. "Which time last Thursday?"

Timid shrank a little. "All three times."

"I forgive you." Beast Boy wasn't really listening- he'd stopped about two minutes into Timid's list of crimes she had committed. Instead, he opted to take the easy way out- doling out forgiveness every twenty seconds.

"And the time I told you that you looked like a green Eddie Munster? I'm sorry for that."

"I for…. Wait, what? I thought that was a compliment!" Alright, maybe he _was_ listening, just a little.

Hope collapsed into a paroxysm of laughter, gasping for air while frantically doing her best to keep her sides from splitting open.

"And that time I laughed at you for thinking that being called a "green Eddie Munster" was a compliment? I'm sorry for that too."

Beast Boy sighed as he picked up the madly giggling Hope, slinging her over his shoulder. "I forgive you."

"And the time that… oh, here we are." Timid touched a wall, revealing a wide open landscape… and no guardian statue, thank God. Beast Boy took a few steps out the exit before he realized the grey-cloaked emotion wasn't following him. Setting down Hope (who was quietly chortling) he walked over to Timid.

"You coming with?" he inquired. Timid shook her head nervously.

"I have… cleaning… to do," she mumbled. Beast Boy understood- if Raven's emotions had trashed her mind, it was only logical that they would be on cleaning duty as well.

"Alright, Timid." Beast Boy flashed the nervous girl a wide grin. "Thanks for leading us through the maze- we'd never have gotten out without you."

Timid's eyes went wide, and a tinge of color touched her cheeks. In a flash, she dove into the ground and disappeared.

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow in confusion before turning back to Hope and forgetting all about Timid's reaction.

"So… tell me one more time- where are we going?"

Hope sighed. "We're not _going_ anywhere, Beast Boy. We're trying not to stay in the same place for too long."

"And why are we doing that?"

"Because it means that we're less likely to run into one of the corrupted emotions. Or worse, run into all six of the corrupted emotions."

Beast Boy walked along with Hope in silence for a few seconds before speaking.

"Five."

The white-clad emotion looked back over her shoulder quizzically. "Five what?"

"There are five corrupted emotions left. There were only six at the Forbidden Door, and Timid's back to her normal self again."

Hope blinked. "Six? Are you positive?" Her eyes glazed over as she tried to recall the arrival of the corrupted emotions. "Yeah, you're right, Beast Boy. There were only six… I wonder which one was missing, and why?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "I haven't got a clue- the only one I can tell from the others is the one with the glasses."

"Doubt."

"Yeah, her. All the rest look the same."

"Well," conceded Hope, "for the most part they act the same. Uncertainty, Shame, Grief, Doubt, and Guilt are separated only by minor nuances-"

"Gesundheit."

"Think 'details.'"

"So why didn't you just say 'details' instead of 'nancys?'"

"I said 'nuances,' which was more accurate."

"So you're sacrificing understandability for accuracy?" Beast Boy smirked slightly.

"I'm saying what I mean as precisely as I can."

"Eschew obfuscation. Saying what you mean precisely is pointless if the intended recipient doesn't have a clue what you're saying."

About a minute passed in silence as Hope processed what Beast Boy just said.

"How on earth can you use phrases such as 'eschew obfuscation' properly and not know what the word 'nuance' means?"

"I knew- I just like getting a rise out of you." That damn smirk was still there, Hope noted.

The emotion snorted. "Just for that, I won't finish what I was saying when you interrupted me."

Beast Boy shrugged indifferently. "I completely forgot what we were talking about anyways."

"I was saying that the corrupted emotions are essentially the same as one another, except for Self-Loathing." Hope caught herself when she noticed the enormous grin on Beast Boy's face. It was the one he always wore right before doing his "victory dance."

"Damn you," she muttered under her breath.

"Unh! Unh! Oh yeah! Who's bad? I'm bad! Won an argument! Huh! With Raven! Alright! Hell froze over- get funky!"

A small rock to the head ended the victory celebrations prematurely. The changeling glared at Hope while gingerly rubbing the bump forming on his noggin.

"You should know by now," said the innocent-looking doppelganger, "that I always get the last word."

"Funny you should mention 'last words,'" said a voice behind Beast Boy. He spun to face the corrupted emotion, making sure that he was between her and Hope.

"Hello, Grief," said Hope.

"Really- Grief, right? I for-"

Beast Boy's proclamation of forgiveness was cut off by a shriek behind him. He turned to see the diminutive emotion being dragged towards a black-cloaked woman in spectacles.

"Beast Boy! Help!"

* * *

Starfire was in Heaven. Sure, she hadn't slept a wink all night, but the time spent in such intimate proximity with Robin was worth the sacrifice. Nothing could spoil her euphoria-

_CRASH!_

-except the thunderstorm that decided to pay a visit.

Robin's eyes snapped open as the torrential downpour thoroughly drenched the pair faster than you could say "hypothermia."

The Boy Wonder heaved a reluctant sigh. "I suppose it's time to go back to the Tower."

Starfire got to her feet, saddened that she was once again separated from the object of her infatuation. "I believe that you are correct, Robin." She gently grabbed his wrist, and was a foot off the ground when Robin spoke up.

"Hey Star… we're already as wet as we're going to get- how about we walk back instead? Maybe we can talk?" The question, delivered without stutter or stammer, still left a noticeable flush on the face of the young man.

"I think that would be a most excellent suggestion," said Starfire. She moved her hand down from his wrist to his hand, and began to walk back towards the Tower, Robin in tow.

"Er... so... Star..."

* * *

_Glomp._

"Yay!" said Happy.

"Oof!" replied Beast Boy.

"Uhhh" groaned Intelligence and Hope, both rolling their eyes at the pair in front of them while putting their hoods up to hide their facial expressions.

A thoroughly surprised Beast Boy lay on the ground, the wind knocked out of him by the pink-clad woman joyfully shrieking on his chest. Eventually, she got off the poor boy, allowing him to get to his feet before once again grabbing him in a vicious bear hug.

Hope and Intelligence simultaneously slapped their palms against their foreheads before tearing Happy from the hapless Beast Boy. The excitable emotion continued to giggle, laugh, and babble gleefully while Intelligence addressed the shell-shocked changeling.

"We all owe you a great deal for your help here, Beast Boy- especially in light of previous events."

"- and it was _so cute_ when you had Hope in your kangaroo pouch! I could have _died!_" Happy shouted in the background.

"Ahem, yes…" Intelligence seemed to be slightly at a loss for words- a first, for sure. "So... thank you... for... everything?"

Beast Boy smiled. "Not a problem- glad I could help!"

Intelligence stared at Beast Boy for a long moment before sinking quickly into the ground. She reappeared next to the still deliriously happy Happy, snatched her wrist, and dragged the giggling girl into the earth.

An awkward silence hung in the air between Hope and Beast Boy.

"Pretend this never happened?" asked Hope.

"I don't think Cyborg would ever let either one of us live down the kangaroo business."

"Then it's settled. Let's move."

"Yes'm."

* * *

Raven's alter ego felt its grip on the girl slip- not much, but enough to provide cause for concern.

Soon enough, she realized, she would have to personally intervene.


	10. A Beautiful Mind

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans or Family Guy.

_The basis of optimism is sheer terror_.  
-Oscar Wilde

* * *

_**A Beautiful Mind**  
_

_05:55_

A thousand televisions turn on across the city, a familiar message on their screens.

"Good Morning, Jump City! I'm Tina Tucker," said a perky woman, sitting comfortably in a chair.

"And I'm Dan Simmons," said her partner, resting in his own seat two feet to her left.

"And you're watching 'Sunshine at Six!'" The last line was cheerfully delivered by both individuals simultaneously.

Mr. Simmons kicked off the inanities. "Our top story today continues to be: 'will the Earth be swallowed by the sun?'"

Ms. Tucker interrupted on cue. "But first, here's Olivia Williams with the weather. Olivia?"

The screen flashed to a young woman near the shores of the bay.

"IT'S RAINING SIDEWAYS!" she shouted.

The screen flashed back to the studio.

"That's a shame, Olivia. When do-" Dan was cut off by his partner.

"Is that Robin and Starfire behind you?" she excitedly asked.

The screen flashed to Olivia.

"YEAH!"

The screen returned to the studio.

"What are they doing up at this ungodly hour?"

The screen returned to Olivia.

"THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS!"

The pair of heroes heard the shouting reporter and turned towards the commotion just in time for the cameraman to zoom in on them. Robin instinctively jumped away from the Starfire, trying to snatch his hand back from her. Unfortunately for him, the alien princess was in a slight state of shock, and he couldn't break her grip. He did, however, manage to move her arm slightly. Feeling her arm change position, Starfire pulled it back to her side, with the Boy Wonder's hand still firmly in her grasp. The resulting collision landed both teens on the sidewalk, Robin on top of Starfire.

"THEY'RE GONNA MAKE OUT!"

* * *

"So, back on topic..."

Hope rolled her eyes and suppressed a grin. "Batman or Spiderman?"

Beast Boy could hardly hide the astonished look on his face. "What?! That's silly- Batman, of course!"

"Oh, really? Spiderman's faster, stronger, more agile-"

"I'll take Robin's word on that one- Spidey's no faster than Batsy." Beast Boy remembered _that_ particular conversation quite clearly- Robin had been quite descriptive of his mentor's fighting skills.

"Fine, but Spiderman is still stronger, and you can't forget about those web shots."

"Pfft, that's nothing. Batman's a tactical _genius_, he has all those fancy gadgets and whatchamawizits, AND he's got the 'cool factor' going for him."

"The 'cool factor?'"

"Yeah- the reason I always win my fights. 'Cuz I'm just cool like that."

Behind Beast Boy, Hope rolled her eyes and bit her tongue.

"Hey, I saw that!"

"No you didn't, I'm behind you."

"You still did it, though."

"Yes, but you didn't see it."

"You never did answer-"

"Superman or Wonder Woman?"

Beast Boy winced. "Oooh, tough one."

Hope smiled to herself. That ought to throw him off the trail for a while- she still hadn't told him who she really was.

* * *

Starfire was in a state of shock, her eyes wide and unblinking as Robin dragged her through the wooded area like a balloon that wouldn't let go of his hand.

Behind the two heroes, a swarm of journalists searched for Jump City's newest _TOP STORY_.

A helicopter passed overhead.

* * *

"And then, Wolverine would be all like 'snikt' and 'grar!' while going in for the finisher, but Nightcrawler's just way too fast and would teleport behind him and-"

"And what? Wolverine can take anything that he can dish out, but I doubt that the same can be said for Nightcrawler."

Beast Boy raised a finger in objection, but dropped it back down to his side when he couldn't think of a response. Hope continued.

"I'm surprised that you picked Nightcrawler, though- I thought you would have related much more closely with Wolverine."

Beast Boy smiled. "Well, I mean Wolverine's a nice guy and all, and he's very animalistic, but us funny colored furry guys have to stick together, ya know?"

Hope smiled and rolled her eyes at the ridiculous shapeshifter.. and then ran smack into said shapeshifter.

"Oof! Why'd you stop, Beast Bo- oh."

Another corrupted emotion stood directly in their path, nervously holding her arms behind her back.

"Uncertainty," said Hope, identifying the woman in front of them.

Beast Boy took a step back, edging closer to Hope.

"A-a-and m-m-me…" stuttered a voice behind them. Instinctively, Beast Boy moved once more, placing himself between Hope and the jittery woman advancing on them.

"Listen," said Beast Boy as he reached for Hope's hand behind him, "I've already forg-" Beast Boy stopped mid-sentence, confused by the Emotion in front of him. She'd halted her advance, her face taking on a very peculiar expression. Four wide eyes were accompanied by a gaping mouth and a heavy flush creeping into her cheeks. Beast Boy followed her gaze… to the hand he'd reached for Hope with.

Turning slowly, Beast Boy found the source of embarrassment- his hand hadn't found the diminutive white emotion, but a third corrupted emotion instead.

A slightly… squishy… emotion, judging by the feeling in his hand.

His eyes went wide as he realized just what he'd done.

* * *

Wisdom buried her face into her hands, groaning at the orange-cloaked woman grinning madly in front of her.

"You realize, of course, that you just fried his brain- right?"

Rude laughed. "Hey, he started it! And turnabout's fair play, after all. Also, for your information, I did _not_ fry his brain- although I probably could, if I went for the other side…" Rude adopted a thoughtful posture, as though seriously contemplating doing what she had just insinuated.

Giving up on Rude, Wisdom turned on Hope. "You're not helping in the slightest right now, you know!"

Indeed she wasn't. The girl was rolling around on the floor, desperately trying not to pass out from laughing at Beast Boy's shocked expression. His face twitched slightly, sending her into further convulsions of mirth.

"And Bravery- what's your excuse?!"

The green-clad emotion shrugged her shoulders, grinning slightly. "It looked fun, so I figured 'what the hell?' and went for it."

Wisdom groaned once more in exasperation before giving up and sinking into the ground. A laughing Rude and a smirking Brave followed her example, leaving Beast Boy and Hope all alone…

Well, almost alone. A nervous hand emerged from the ground behind Beast Boy. Seconds later, the changeling let out another shocked yelp, and the hand dove back down into the ground.

_What do you know, Brave was right- that _was_ fun!_

Beast Boy gingerly rubbed his bottom, wondering just _how_ he'd gotten into this mess… and Hope _still_ wasn't helping.

* * *

Self-Loathing reeled, feeling her grip on Raven slip even further. She alone, now, comprised the Nightmare- all the other corrupted ones were back to normal.

This couldn't be tolerated. The little one would have to go.

And if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself.

* * *

"So, Raven's almost in the clear?"

"Yes- we've taken care of all but one of the corrupted emotions. Once we find Self-Loathing and set her right, Raven will be fine. Although, you still should tell her to her face that you forgive her- even if _we_ all know it, it helps if her conscious self knows it too."

"Two," said Beast Boy, looking at Hope strangely.

"Two what?" Hope wasn't sure what her friend was talking about.

"Two corrupted emotions left."

"No, just one. You've already fixed Timid, Intelligence, Happy, Rude, Brave, and Wisdom- all that's left is Anger…"

"And you. You aren't yourself right now. Who are you, anyways? You keep changing the subject whenever I ask- why would you hide your identity?" He began to panic. "Oh no, you're Raven's 'kill Beast Boy' emotion- that's why you're being so nice to me now, because it's the opposite of killing me!" His voice jumped an octave. "I'm too pretty to die! Ow!"

Beast Boy clutched his shin, hopping around on one leg while muttering under his breath.

"Beast Boy, keep that up and I'll kick your _other_ shin as well. I'm just a little… self-conscious about my normal state. Also, there _is_ no 'kill Beast Boy' emotion-"

"I would have to disagree with your assertion, little sister."

Beast Boy stopped hopping around, turning to face the direction of the voice.

"You hate yourself, Self-Loathing, not him. And besides- tell her the good news, Beast Boy."

Beast Boy's face lit up, and he delivered his message as quickly as he could.

"IforgiveRavenforeverythingsocanyoupleasenotdrivehercrazy?"

Self-Loathing just stared at the changeling for a few seconds before speaking.

"I know."

With that, a host of black tendrils erupted from beneath her cloak, snatching Beast Boy and pulling him to her face.

"So… if you know, why aren't you all non-black yet?" he asked.

"Because your forgiveness would make Raven happy. Knowing that you didn't hate her or fear her would make her happy. Hell, _you_ make Raven happy. I can't possibly tell you how much I _hate_ it when Raven is happy."

Before he could say another word, Self-Loathing's eyes flashed, transforming Beast Boy into a fish.

"And that is why you must die, my little green friend."


	11. A Bittersweet Symphony

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: Sorry this took so long… but I like it.

_Love is giving someone the power to destroy you, and trusting them not to_.

-Unknown

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_**A Bittersweet Symphony**  
_

_Self-Loathing's eyes flashed, transforming Beast Boy into a fish._

"_And that is why you must die, my little green friend."_

…

Looking about her realm, Timid felt a slight twinge of satisfaction. The courtroom had been replaced by a very steep and very grey hill with a small clump of very tall and very grey trees at the top- a perfect spot to hide from view and still see everything for miles.

The twinge of satisfaction was soon overwhelmed with a desperate need to see Beast Boy again- after all, she hadn't finished apologizing to him yet! She still had 143,478,137 insults and injuries to beg forgiveness for, and if she waited too long it would become 143,478,138! Steeling her jello-like resolve, Timid dashed into the ground…

..and reappeared behind Self-Loathing. She was about to launch into her list of crimes committed when her mind registered the scene before her. Her jaw dropped as she saw Hope recklessly (and hopelessly) charge the dark emotion, tiny fists swinging furiously only to hit air. Then, she saw the weakly struggling green goldfish suspended by a dark tendril, and her eyes bugged out.

Self-Loathing turned her head in surprise as she heard someone inhale behind her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Umph!" grunted Brave, as she lifted a heavy punching bag off the ground.

Her training room had been mostly repaired, although there were still some cracks in the floor that needed to be taken care of, and the door to Intelligence's library was still a little crooked.

Suddenly, Brave heard a sound that made her drop the hefty bag onto the floor.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A book flew through the air haphazardly, as a woman in yellow jumped in surprise at the piercing noise that assaulted her eardrums.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

An avalanche tore down the side of the mountain, triggered by the unforgiving cacophony echoing through the realm of a very startled Wisdom.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rude sleepily stretched, puzzled at the very notion of being woken up by a noise while she was under her sleeping tree.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A floating strawberry exploded, leaving a large crater in the recently repaired Happyland Roadway. Happy giggled at the smell emitted by the fruity hand grenade before moving to investigate the trigger.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Throughout Raven's mind, five emotions looked up from what they were doing, the same thought in their head.

'Only two people in this world can scream like that- and Starfire isn't here!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_06:30_

"Robin, I'm frightened of the scary camera people!"

"Me too Star, me too… but there isn't anything we can do about them- they've got us surrounded, and we can't attack civilians!"

"I could… try flying… again."

"Are you feeling up to it?"

"… Truthfully? I am much too nervous to get very far, especially carrying someone."

"Well, you-"

"No Robin, I will not leave you in the scary camera people's clutches!"

Suddenly, the Boy Wonder got an idea. Grabbing Starfire's hand, he leaned over and gave her a soft peck on the cheek.

"Will that h-ELP!"

The pair were in the clouds before he could finish his sentence.

Back down in the woods below, a man grinned wildly behind his telescopic camera lens.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beast Boy lay on his back, gasping for breath. A very dazed Self-Loathing stood to his left, her ears still ringing from the auditory assault launched from Timid's mouth. On his right kneeled Hope, who was desperately trying to drag him to his feet.

"If you die Beast Boy, so help me God, I'm going to kill you!"

The girl made a very convincing argument. Beast Boy jumped to his feet, tripped, landed on his face, then jumped back up again. He was about to make a run for it when five emotions materialized before him.

"What the hell was that, scaredy-cat?!" shouted Rude.

Happy giggled at the rhyme. "You're a poet and don't know it!" she quipped, before getting smacked in the back of the head by Wisdom.

The new arrivals immediately began quarreling among themselves, until an impatient Intelligence put a stop to the bickering.

"QUIET!" she shouted. Seeing that her outburst had the desired effect, she turned to Timid, who was cowering behind Beast Boy.

"Would you mind telling us why you decided to pierce our metaphorical eardrums, Timid?"

The frightened emotion lifted a quivering finger and pointed at the still dazed Self-Loathing. "She- she- she-"

"She's trying to kill Beast Boy," finished Hope, "and you all know why."

Beast Boy didn't have a clue as to what his white-robed friend was talking about, but the others appeared to understand the message immediately. As one, they turned to Self-Loathing.

"Sister, that was a… most unwise decision."

"You coward- how about picking on someone your own size?!"

"I don't think you've quite put the necessary amount of thought into this course of action."

"I'm think I'm going to really enjoy this!"

"Meanie! Now I'm up to 143,478,140!"

"We're gonna fuck. You. Up."

Seven emotions and a changeling turned towards the last speaker with a questioning look on their faces.

"What?" shrugged Rude. "We are, aren't we?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_06:45_

Cyborg twitched in his sleep, his recharging slightly disturbed by the miniature mushroom cloud floating over Raven's mirror.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Self-Loathing grinned to herself as she threw the unconscious body of Happy onto the pile of emotions beside her. It had taken a lot out of her, but the dark emotion had overcome her assailants, leaving her alone with her prey.

Beast Boy saw the four red eyes focus once more upon him and steeled himself for the inevitable assault.

"You idiot- run, Beast Boy!"

The changeling shook his head and stood his ground.

"You know," hissed Self-Loathing, "you're smarter than you look."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. Personally, he thought he was being pretty stupid.

"You know that you can run, but you'll only die tired."

'Oh.'

Without further taunting, Self-Loathing launched her tendrils at Beast Boy, who braced himself for impact.

The impact never came- a small white shield blocked the green hero from the attack. Of the three, none was more surprised than Hope at the stream of energy coming from her hand.

Of the three, none recovered from the shock as quickly as Self-Loathing.

THWACK!

The diminutive emotion fell unconscious to the ground, knocked out by a well aimed shot to the temple.

Beast Boy watched, frozen in horror as Hope collapsed onto her face. Suddenly, all he could think of was what would happen to Raven should Hope be defeated. She would be… insane, and he could think of no worse fate to befall the half-demon than the loss of herself.

The very idea drove him into a nearly maniacal rage.

Beast Boy felt the changes come, and he put up no struggle against them.

Cruel laughter echoed through his ears, as Self-Loathing taunted him.

"You really think that you can save her with that? Do you actually believe that you have the slightest hope of saving this miserable girl's mind? You're absolutely pathetic, you realize that?"

Her eyes flashed, and she focused once more upon the form of a fish.

The Beast still stood before her.

"Oh. Shit."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven felt as though a great weight had lifted off her shoulders- the pain, the agony… all of it was gone. She looked around, and found no sign of her alter ego. But she did see the Beast- bloodied, bruised, and beaten.

She ran to his side, shouting his name.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Beast Boy!" cried Hope. She flung her arms around the enormous wolf-thing in front of her, the pain of her recent concussion all but forgotten. She continued her embrace as he lapsed into unconsciousness, shrinking back into his human self.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven threw her hands in front of her, desperately willing the healing energy to flow through her into the broken body before her.

Nothing happened.

And she despaired.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the blasted lands of Nevermore, a small girl wept over the barely breathing form of Garfield Mark Logan, oblivious to the slow darkening of her garb.


	12. A Moth to the Flame

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: Alrighty! Chapter twelve- and this time, it's not an April Fools' joke, or me going off to the wilderness!

_It is fear that first brought gods into the world._

-Petronius Arbiter

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

**_A Moth to the Flame_**

"_Beast Boy!" cried Hope. She flung her arms around the enormous wolf-thing in front of her, the pain of her recent concussion all but forgotten. She continued her embrace as he lapsed into unconsciousness, shrinking back into his human self._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Raven threw her hands in front of her, desperately willing the healing energy to flow through her into the broken body before her._

_Nothing happened._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_In the blasted lands of Nevermore, a small girl wept over the barely breathing form of Garfield Mark Logan, oblivious to the slow darkening of her garb._

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beast Boy felt the Beast recede from his mind, driven out by exhaustion and injury. Surprisingly though, that was all the changeling felt. Sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, he looked around for Hope. Instead of seeing the diminutive girl, however, he found himself staring at a never ending expanse of… nothing. Just inky blackness as far as the eye could see.

Wait… no, that wasn't true. Beast Boy saw a bright pinpoint of light off in the distance. Turning into a moth, he flew over to investigate this new development.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_07:00_

_Warning! Warning! Intruder Alert! Warning! Warning!_

Cyborg woke up immediately, the Tower's security system automatically rousing him from his slumber. Immediately, he plugged into the Tower's cameras to take a look at whoever was stupid enough to mess with the Titans.

To his horror, every camera in the Tower was offline… all but one, that is.

Without wasting another second, he was running as quickly as his legs could propel him towards the common room, and the destruction being wrought within.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm herself.

Once more, she placed her hands on Beast Boy's barely moving form.

Once more, the empath tried to conjure up the healing energy her friend so desperately needed.

Once more, nothing happened.

Once more, Raven's right eye twitched.

Once more, Raven took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm herself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A small child clung to Beast Boy's arm, her face buried into his mangled shoulder as her tiny body was wracked with sobs. Six slightly battered women stood behind her, silently watching the tragic scene taking place before them, each as helpless as the next to stop it.

Beast Boy's breathing continued to slow, Hope's cloak continued to blacken, and Raven's emotions stood by- unable to do anything but watch the oncoming train wreck.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The common room was a hurricane of flying furniture and black magic as Cyborg smashed through the broken doorway. At the center of the tempest was the couch, which was currently floating five feet off of the floor, its dreaming occupant oblivious to the havoc being wrought around her.

Ignoring the broken pieces of furniture bouncing off of his steel frame, Cyborg made his way towards Raven's sleeping form. A chair shattered over his head as he turned the couch to face him, looking down at the empath. The robotic hero was surprised to find no trace of turmoil evident on his friend's face- if it weren't for the obvious emotional chaos being loosed upon the Tower, he'd have never known anything was wrong.

Shaking his head, Cyborg decided upon a course of action.

"RAVEN, WAKE UP!" he shouted.

The empath remained undisturbed. Cyborg went for plan B.

"RAVEN, WAKE UP! I MADE WAFFLES!"

Hmm, that usually works… how about plan-

"Oh crap, Beast Boy's still in there!" he muttered under his breath, interrupting his own train of thought.

Suddenly the room stopped spinning, before submitting once more to the dictate of gravity.

Raven was sitting up on the couch, staring intently at Cyborg.

"Beast Boy is in Nevermore, isn't he?"

Cyborg nodded dumbly, still processing the unusual stimulus that aroused the half-demon.

Raven folded her legs under herself and began chanting, her eyes closed as she concentrated on her mantra.

Cyborg snapped out of his reverie and dashed madly back to his room… and to the mirror.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The green moth flitted about in the darkness, the bright light becoming less and less distant with every passing second.

As the light grew closer, Beast Boy began to hear a voice murmuring something quietly- too soft for him to understand. Soon, he heard another voice speaking. And another. And another yet, until there were too many voices to count, all of them softly speaking, none of them addressing him.

The little green moth flitted on, oblivious to the significance of the situation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven's consciousness free-fell from the sky in her mind, making no attempt to work against gravity's pull until she was almost a demon pancake on the ground below. Landing with little of her usual grace, she broke into a dead sprint towards the location where she felt all… most… of her emotions gathered. One was off by itself, not too far away from the others, but she decided that the solitary doppelganger was a much lower priority than that which the other seven were gathering around.

Raven crested a hill, and her breath caught in her throat, her mind reeling at the sight of her friend's battered body. Twelve solemn eyes moved as one to stare pointedly at Raven, whose two wide eyes did their best to return the gaze.

Only having hesitated for a moment, she sprung into action, flying to Beast Boy's side. So absorbed was she in her friend's condition that she almost overlooked the seventh emotion present at the scene: a small girl, appearing no older than six years old, wearing a cloak that was so deep a shade of purple that at first Raven thought it was black. The girl's hood was drawn over her head, obscuring her face in the shadows of the garment.

Something about the girl bothered something deep inside Raven, else she would have continued to ignore her and tend to her friend. As it was, the half-demon addressed the darkly-clad emotion.

"Who are you?" Raven asked, never having been one to beat around the bush.

The violet hood moved imperceptibly as the girl answered the inquiry. "I have had many names. Once, I was known as Affection…"

Raven's eyes narrowed- something was very, _very_ wrong here.

"..and for a short time I was even called 'Love,' but that didn't last very long…"

Raven's eyes narrowed until they were barely slits- the memory of Love's brief existence was not a pleasant one.

"… and for a long time since I was Affection once more, until recent events necessitated another change, and I became Hope…"

An expression of surprise replaced the suspicious look on Raven's face- the girl in her dream… Raven looked down at her unconscious friend's face, and noticed that his expression was contorted in pain, his labored breathing was accompanied by barely discernible grunts and moans. Placing her palm against his forehead, she closed her eyes and focused on withdrawing the pain as best she could. A soreness spread throughout her body, but she pushed it out of her mind and returned her attention to the girl beside her.

"You didn't answer my question- who are you _now_?" While the history lesson had been enlightening, it certainly didn't provide Raven with the answer she wanted.

The girl turned her face away from her inquisitor, looking down at Beast Boy. Raven studied her companion closely, noticing an almost imperceptible shaking of the girl's right side of her torso. Following the movement with her eyes, Raven traced down to the hem of the cloak, where a small feminine hand desperately clutched a much larger green one.

Raven stared at the two holding hands, and almost didn't hear the whispered response to her inquiry.

"I… don't know. Not yet."

Deciding that she had gotten everything out of the emotion that she would for some time yet, Raven turned her attention to Beast Boy's broken form. Her heart fell into the pit of her stomach as she realized the severity of his injuries put him in serious risk of not surviving whatever had attacked him.

Then it plummeted even further as she realized that "whatever" was probably herself, or some aspect thereof. Once more, she had come close to destroying her friend- and maybe even succeeded this time.

Finding herself in danger of becoming overwhelmed with emotion, Raven shoved all thoughts other than saving Beast Boy's life out of her head, to be dealt with later.

The left side of Raven's face twitched, but due to her intense concentration upon her team mate, it passed by unnoticed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anger sat on the wooden bed, legs curled to her chest, staring intently at the red concrete wall in front of her.

Her head began to turn to her left, her eyes absorbing every detail of her residence.

The chip the size of her hand.

That crack, which stretched from the floor to just shy of the ceiling.

A sink, inexplicably filthy.

A toilet, understandably filthy.

An iron bar.

Another iron bar.

A succession of iron bars.

A door, wide open.

Anger's eyes widened in sudden fear as she looked upon the open entry to her cell. Paling, she snapped her head back to face the wall straight in front of her. Eventually, though, her restraint failed her, and her gaze drifted to her right.

A barred window, outside which raged a perpetual thunderstorm.

A stain, which Anger couldn't explain and didn't know if she cared to try.

A picture frame, photo facing the wall.

Trembling slightly, Anger reached out with her powers and flipped the picture around for a split second- just long enough to see the blood spatter on his face, just long enough to remind herself of why even though the door was open, she was a prisoner in her own domain for the foreseeable future.

Hugging her knees tightly, Anger replaced the picture frame and began to silently rock back and forth.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cyborg turned the corner without bothering to slow down, earning himself a rough jarring as his bulky frame smashed into the wall. Ignoring the damage done to himself and the building, he dashed down the hallway before coming to a screeching halt in front of his room.

Knocking down the door in a dramatic-yet-otherwise-pointless-gesture, Cyborg virtually flew to the mirror sitting on his computer console. Picking it up, he steeled his nerves and looked directly at his reflection.

Four red eyes glowed back at him, and a crimson claw caught him and began to pull.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The green moth fluttered at the light's edge, a clear demarcation between light and shadow etched into the nothingness that surrounded the insect.

An instant later, Beast Boy stood where the moth once had been, his eyes adjusting to the brilliant illuminating… whatever… in front of him.

Tentatively, he stretched a hand towards the light. Suddenly, all of the voices that he had failed to notice earlier stopped their chatter. The deafening silence startled the changeling, who jerked his hand back and looked around nervously. Failing to find the source of his surprise, he returned his attention to the whiteness.

His finger brushed the edge, and then all was light.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven was fighting a losing battle with Beast Boy's injuries. As soon as she focused on fixing one mortal wound, another injury would worsen and endanger her friend's life. So engrossed was she in her life and death game of whack-a-mole that she failed to notice his heart stop.

But the child-like emotion beside her did not. Her cloak made the final leap from dark violet to black as she let out a choked sob.

The sudden noise grabbed Raven's attention, and the half-demon raised her head just in time to see the child's face as she announced:

"I have a name now, Raven."

Raven raised her eyebrow questioningly, her expression showing plainly her confusion and annoyance at the interruption. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as Nevermore lurched, throwing her to the ground. As she pulled herself back to her feet, Nevermore heaved once more, and she landed roughly on her face.

"Wha-" Raven's query was cut off as the landscape of her mind shattered, and she fell unconscious.

The diminutive emotion floated quietly beside the fragment of earth carrying Beast Boy, watching the empty shell of his body drift through Raven's broken mind.


	13. One Stone, How Many Birds?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: Well, this was fun.

_To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead._

-Bertrand A. Russell

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_**One Stone, How Many Birds?**  
_

_Tentatively, Beast Boy stretched a hand towards the light. His finger brushed the edge, and then all was light._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Name, please."

Beast Boy blinked hard, his eyes adjusting to the suddenly bright environment.

"Sir, your name?"

Beast Boy blinked again, this time in surprise. In front of him lay a vast expanse of white nothingness… and a desk with an irritated-looking woman behind it. Slightly intimidated by the sheer strangeness of the situation, the green teen shuffled up to the desk.

"My- my name is B-b-beast Boy, miss."

The woman grunted in acknowledgment and pulled out a small rolodex, rifling through it.

"Who are you, miss?"

The woman looked up in annoyance. "Only the most powerful being in existence, Beast Boy."

Beast Boy was shocked beyond belief- he was talking to…

"You're Rachel Ray?" Anyone who could cook Thanksgiving dinner in thirty minutes HAD to be super-powerful, after all.

The woman raised an eyebrow- she didn't recall ever getting _that_ particular response before. "No, I'm God's secretary."

A sudden thump announced the changeling's collapse to the floor. Making a show of dragging himself up the desk, he peered at the smirking secretary.

"God's… secretary? You mean… I'm dead?"

The secretary gave him a deadpan look (reminding Beast Boy very strongly of a certain half-demon) before returning to her rolodex. A moment passed before she looked back up to Beast Boy.

"Is 'Beast Boy' your given name, or a pseudonym?"

Beast Boy blinked. The secretary sighed.

"What's your _real_ name, sir? It is _slightly_ important."

Beast Boy blinked. Apparently, he hadn't quite gotten over the shock of being-

"Ow!" A paper clip fell to the floor beside Beast Boy, it's original trajectory somewhat altered by its impact with his forehead. He looked up at the secretary in time to catch her putting a rubber band back into a small box on her desk.

"Oh! My name- Logan. Garfield Logan."

The secretary sighed. "Thank you, Mr. Logan. Please take a seat in the waiting room. We'll call you when your paperwork is done."

The changeling looked at the woman questioningly. "What waiting room?"

"First door on your left. Have a nice eternity, sir."

Beast Boy turned to his left, and sure enough a set of double doors sat in front of him. Turning back to confirm that these were in fact the doors he needed, Beast Boy found that the secretary and her desk were nowhere to be found. Shrugging off her sudden disappearance (Raven's head _was_ weirder, after all), Beast Boy opened the doors and walked on in. The first thing he saw was the enormous sign that greeted his arrival:

**Welcome to the Purgatory Lounge!**

_Thank you for not smoking._

_-The Management._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Cyborg's stomach lurched as he landed on the rocky surface, having been launched roughly from the swirling vortex of Raven's mirror. Unsteadily climbing to his feet, he took stock of the situation.

"Good grief, Raven- what happened in here?!"

The robotic hero found himself standing on a floating piece of rock half the size of the T-car, drifting through the void of his team mate's broken mind. Spinning around slowly, Cyborg scanned the area for any signs of life, but found nothing but rocks and emptiness.

"Well," he said to nobody in particular, "I guess it's time to go exploring."

That brought him to another problem- how to move around. Not being the most agile of superheroes, he couldn't exactly jump from rock to rock. Suddenly, he was struck with a bolt of inspiration. Lying down on his stomach, Cyborg stretched his arm over the back of the rock and transformed it into his sonic cannon. After making sure he had a good grip on the stony platform, he let loose.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Five seconds later, the hybrid hero's flying rock came to a sudden stop as it slammed into another, much larger, stone. Unfortunately, his rock shattered, and he was sent flying out into space.

Luck was with Cyborg, however, and soon enough another platform found itself weighted down with the burden of a slightly shaken (and slightly dented) android. Groaning softly, he pulled himself to his feet and grunted angrily.

"Damnit Beast Boy, you couldn't go get lost in some place that obeys some form of logic- you had to get stranded in Raven's head! I swear, when I find you-"

Cyborg turned around and halted in mid-sentence- his eyes locked onto the green boy and cloaked girl beside him not more than twenty feet away.

"Beast Boy! Raven! Thank God I found you!" Running as quickly as possible, he slid to a halt and began inspecting his fallen friend.

"Broken collarbone, cracked ribs, a pretty serious concussion, multiple lacerations- most of them pretty serious, fractured femurs… oh hell, his heart's stopped!" Not wasting a second, Cyborg ripped off the remaining tatters of Beast Boy's shirt. He held his hands together, a whining noise emitting from his chest as his battery prepared itself for the imminent discharge. Seconds later, the whining ceased, and the robotic hero moved to place his hands on Beast Boy's chest…

"Don't. You. DARE. TOUCH! HIM!" commanded a high-pitched voice. Cyborg looked up just in time to see the black wave knock him away from the shapeshifter. Landing roughly near the edge of the floating rock, he glanced up at the floating girl angrily stretching her arms out to "protect" the changeling's body.

"You're… you're not Raven, are you?" asked Cyborg, mentally slapping himself for not noticing the _obvious_ differences between the little girl in front of him and his friend.

"No," she said, her eyes dull and lifeless as she spoke. "I'm Despair."

Then Cyborg felt the rock crumble beneath him, and he plunged into the void below.

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Robin mused over his current predicament, as he dangled in Starfire's grasp up in the clouds. He was fairly certain that his right arm was dislocated, but he decided that bringing Starfire out of her euphoria at ten thousand feet would _not_ be a wise move. Still, he could swear that he felt icicles forming on his cape…

"Hey, Star?"

The Tamaranian princess looked down at him grinning from ear to ear. "Yes, friend Robin?"

"I think we're high enough- do you know which way the Tower is from here?"

Her smile faltered a fraction. "No Robin, I do not."

He flashed her a reassuring smile and pointed off into the distance, to their left. "You'd be able to see it if this fog would lift- good thing that storm passed through so quickly, though. It's about three miles that way, in any case."

Starfire turned her head in the direction that her leader was pointing- as much to see where she needed to go as to hide her diminishing smile from the boy dangling beneath her. She knew that their time alone would have to end sometime, but it didn't mean she had to like it.

The smile returned full force, however, when she got an idea as to how to make the most of what little time they had left. She pulled Robin up, pressing him close to her. He blushed madly.

"Starfire-"

"I would feel better if I had a better grip on you, Robin. I do not like this weather- it does not suit flying very well at all."

Robin felt a sickening crunch in his shoulder as Starfire began to dive and instinctively tightened her grip.

'Well, at least I won't have to worry about her feeling bad about dislocating my arm…' he thought, biting back a yelp.

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The home of a demon is never exactly what one would describe as "pleasant," and the residence of Trigon the Terrible was no exception to that rule. The dimension of Hell that his daughter had banished him to was full of fire, brimstone, and the bloodcurdling screams of those tortured souls doomed to spend eternity in unimaginable agony.

Frankly, he'd never felt so much at home.

Kicking back in his leather chair, the towering demon picked up the local newspaper and began looking through his favorite section: the obituaries.

"Oh, hey," the demon muttered to himself, coming upon the name of a certain green boy, "I remember that kid from somewhere…"

Getting up, the embodiment of all that is evil lumbered over to his refrigerator, pulling off an article he'd clipped out from the library's newspaper archives.

"Here we go… _Changeling Goes Beserk, Saves Half-Demon_. Well, look at that! One of Raven's little friends."

Returning the article to the refrigerator door, Trigon pondered the situation. His daughter had sent him to this particular corner of Hell that he'd grown to… tolerate. It was only right to repay her as best he could.

Walking over to his kitchen table, Trigon the Terrible picked up his cell phone and dialed.

"Hey, Trish? Yeah, this is… yes, it's Trigon. Yeah, I've been pretty busy- yourself? Look- I'm sorry I never called back- I'm kinda stuck here for the foreseeable future anyway. In any case, this call is for business- not pleasure. I'm calling in a favor- it's one of your new arrivals…"

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"So," asked Beast Boy, "how long is the wait around here?"

The short Frenchman beside him just glared at the changeling, sticking his hand further into his jacket.

Giving up the angry midget as a lost cause, Beast Boy turned to the woman on his right.

"So, how long have you been here, miss?"

She turned an appraising eye on him, before smiling and stretching a hand towards him.

"A few years- and please, call me Angela."

He took the outstretched hand and shook it firmly. "My name's Garfield, but you can just call me Beast Boy."

The woman gave him another smile. "Pleased to meet you, Beast Boy."

The door to the lounge opened, causing the woman to jump. Glancing at whomever was entering, she gave a small sigh of relief and turned back to Beast Boy.

"Worried about something?" asked Beast Boy, noticing the nervous behavior of his companion. Angela studied the changeling intently for a few moments, reminding him very strongly of-

Angela turned away, heaving a sigh. "Yes- I'm terrified of the day I see my daughter walk through those doors. She's a good girl at heart… but there are certain… circumstances… that might prove unfortunate for her."

Beast Boy nodded. "I know what you mean, sort of. There's a girl that I know who used to be in that situation. All her life, she'd been told that she was destined to be nothing but trouble, but for as long as I've known her she's done everything she could to help people. Finally, the thing that everyone was worried about came… and she beat it. She beat it good, too. The girl's destined for great things- too bad I won't be there to see them." Beast Boy looked down at his feet, then glanced over at his companion. "She kind of looks like you, too."

"GARFIELD MARK LOGAN, PLEASE REPORT TO THE FRONT DESK IMMEDIATELY!"

Beast Boy gave a startled squeak at the announcement, falling out of his chair in the process. Quickly standing up and brushing himself off, he turned to Angela.

"Well, ma'am- looks like my ticket skipped to the front of the line." The Frenchman gave him a dirty look at this. "It was a pleasure speaking with you- I hope everything works out for your daughter."

He turned and walked away, just reaching the door as he heard a voice behind him cry out for him to wait. Turning, he watched Angela run up to him, eyes wide.

"Please," she said, huffing from the physical exertion. "What was your friend's name?"

"GARFIELD MARK LOGAN, REPORT TO THE FRONT DESK _NOW!_"

Beast Boy opened the door to the lounge and looked back at the woman.

"Her name is Raven," he said, before turning and exiting. He never did see the woman's reaction.

The door shut behind him and vanished into the blinding whiteness. Taking a step forward, Beast Boy found himself suddenly (and inexplicably) directly in front of a very irate secretary.

"So," she said, "it looks like you've got friends in low places."

Beast Boy was confused again.

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Cyborg gulped.

Unbeknownst to Despair, the android was extraordinarily stubborn, extraordinarily resilient, and most of all- extraordinarily stubborn.

Which was why he was currently dangling by his fingertips from a rock out in the middle of… nowhere.

Pulling himself up slowly, so as to not attract attention, he peeked over the edge of the platform holding his friend. Fortunately, Despair's back was turned, and his reconnaissance effort went unnoticed.

Dropping back down out of sight, Cyborg made his decision. Slowly, he let the winches connecting his hands to his wrists release, lowering himself on titanium cables until he was below the floating rock. Kicking his legs, he swung back and forth, until finally…

_BOOM!_

Two rockets- one a flare, one a smoke round, shot out from his feet and arced up towards the top of the rock. At the same time, Cyborg retracted his hands, pulling himself up to the opposite side of the platform from where the rockets would appear. Sure enough, he climbed up just in time for the two shells to detonate.

Despair rocked backwards, completely thrown off balance by the sudden assault. Frantically, she looked around for her attacker, but the combined flare and smoke made it impossible for her to see.

Then she heard a whining noise behind her, and spun around to see-

Cyborg pressed his hands down hard, releasing the built up charge into Beast Boy's chest. He didn't have time to inspect the results of his efforts, however- Despair's sudden appearance behind him quickly made that impossible.

"I SAID NOT TO TOUCH HIM!" she screamed, enveloping Cyborg in a black energy field and raising him into the air.

Beast Boy coughed.

"Ow!" protested Cyborg, finding himself suddenly on the ground and ignored by the cloaked girl.

"Ra…ven?" croaked Beast Boy, slowly opening an eye.

"BEAST BOY!" cried Despair happily, hugging him tightly around the neck.

Cyborg blinked.

'What the…'

Cyborg blinked again.

And found Raven sitting next to him, her mind whole, and the girl clutching Beast Boy now garbed in a vibrant purple.

"WHAT THE…"

A black patch of energy covered his mouth, cutting him off.

"Careful, Cyborg," said Raven. "There are children present."

Affection looked up from hugging Beast Boy… but only long enough to throw an impudent glare at Raven for her remark.

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**Author's Note** **2**: Aren't you glad I didn't end with a cliffhanger? For once?


	14. Mortification, Jubilation, and Vexation

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: Silliness and seriousness make for longer chapters. Also, I'm seriously not good at depicting highly emotional scenes.

_Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive- the risk to be alive and express what we really are._

-Don Miguel Ruiz

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**_Mortification, Jubilation, and Vexation_**

It took Cyborg a few seconds to calm down and recover from the shock, but once he had, Raven removed the strip from his mouth and allowed him to speak.

"Look, as cute as this is," Cyborg started, somehow managing to pointedly look at the small emotion cuddling Beast Boy and simultaneously raise an eyebrow at Raven, "we've got to get BB out of here. It seems like your healy-mojo pulled him back from the brink, but I'm still not comfortable with his condition. We need to get him back to the Tower ASAP."

Raven nodded, stood up, and walked over to the gleeful girl beside the changeling. Lifting her off the ground and setting her on her feet, Raven turned to Cyborg and pointed off into the distance behind him.

"The Forbidden Door is in that direction- I barely have the energy to move myself over there and activate it, so you'll have to carry Beast Boy yourself. As for me," Raven gestured towards the violet-colored emotion beside her, "I have something that needs attending to."

With a grunt of agreement, Cyborg effortlessly lifted his friend into his arms, cradling his small form as gently as possible so as to avoid exacerbating his injuries any further. Turning in the direction Raven had indicated, the android ran as quickly as he could without jarring his precious cargo.

Raven watched her friend dash off into the distance before turning around to her small companion. Squatting down, the empath looked the emotion square in the eye.

"So… Affection…"

The diminutive doppelganger smiled.

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_0730_

Starfire continued her descent from the cloudy sky, in part because she needed to land, and in part because she knew that her time alone with Robin was nearing a close. Not that she didn't want to see her friends- it was just that they didn't elicit such powerful emotions from her as the Boy Wonder did.

Her descent accelerated as the Tamaranian princess spotted the Tower in the distance, across the bay. Slowing down imperceptibly, she tightened her grip on the already squished Robin. Robin, of course, didn't complain. Not that he was presently capable of drawing the breath necessary to complain, but he wouldn't have done it even if he could.

Tightening his clasp around the Tamaranian's torso, he felt her relax ever so slightly, allowing him to inhale once more.

"Hey, Star?"

She looked down at him, her green eyes boring into the blank white of his mask.

"We need to do this more often."

Flashing him a grin that put the bat-signal to shame, the alien shot back up into the sky. Once more, Robin found himself unable to breathe- but this time it had nothing to do with the force being exerted on his ribs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

As he approached the Forbidden Door, Cyborg shifted Beast Boy's weight to one arm and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Half machine or not, he was _not_ built for long-distance running. Gently setting his friend down on the ground, the robotic hero sat down to wait for Raven's arrival.

"I wonder what she's doing with that half pint?" he mused out loud.

"Discussing something that's most likely none of your business, would be my guess," came a voice from behind him.

His eyes wide as dinner plates, Cyborg leapt to his feet and turned around. "Jeez, Raven! You just 'bout gave me…" Cyborg trailed off as he looked at the figure that had spoken. "Alright- you're not Raven, unless she's developed hypermetropia as well as a sudden love for the color yellow. Wait, wait- don't tell me! You're Knowledge, right?"

"My name is Intelligence, to be precise. And the glasses are for show. As for my supposed 'love' for the color yellow… I didn't really have any say in that." Intelligence's gaze shifted to the green changeling beside Cyborg. "I really must confess to a high degree of confusion in regards to Beast Boy's dramatic recovery."

"Huh?" asked a puzzled Cyborg. "What do you mean? He went into cardiac arrest, I zapped him. He's not in any immediate danger, if that's what's bothering you- at least, nothing that I couldn't take care of at the Tower."

Quietly, as though to herself, Intelligence spoke. "He should be, though."

Cyborg's confusion deepened. "Wait, what? You're not happy with the fact that he's not dead?"

"Of course we're happy!" Cyborg almost jumped out of his skin as Happy loudly made her entrance directly behind him. "Hey, you remember me- don't you Cy?"

Twitching slightly, Cyborg nodded his reply. "How could I forget?" he asked rhetorically.

"This still doesn't make any sense, though," repeated Intelligence, now kneeling beside Beast Boy and prodding him in the ribs gently. "He was beyond even Raven's healing powers- a simple defibrillator shouldn't have restored him to such a stable condition."

"Oh come on, smarty-pants! You can poke him better than that!" Cyborg stiffened as a flash of orange appeared directly in front of him, before moving to Beast Boy. "Do it like this!" The orange cloaked woman rudely shoved Intelligence aside, and began to enthusiastically poke and prod all over the unconscious boy's body.

"Rude, I'm _quite_ certain that there's nothing wrong with his posterior!" shouted an indignant Intelligence.

"Damn right, there ain't nothing wrong with it!" quipped Rude, making a point of poking the aforementioned body part again.

"Please don't do that anymore- I don't think he would like it very much," whimpered Timid, as she materialized on Cyborg's left side.

"What he doesn't know, can't hurt him!" cried Bravery, leapfrogging a momentarily paralyzed Cyborg to land next to Beast Boy. Reaching towards the changeling, she muttered out loud, "I wonder if _this_ was injured…"

"Alright Cyborg, I'm done with… what the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" cried Raven, looking directly at Bravery. The green emotion suddenly found herself all alone with Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg- with her hand hovering mere inches above Beast Boy's…

"Nothing!" she cried, and then she too was gone.

Unclenching a fist she didn't remember making, Raven turned to face Cyborg. "You didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything. Got it?"

Cyborg twitched.

"I'll take that as a yes. Pick Beast Boy up, and let's go."

As the trio moved through the Forbidden Door, a woman cloaked in brown appeared out of the shadows. Looking disappointed- as one who has missed a golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity- she turned and faded once more into the mists of Raven's mind.

'Maybe another time,' Wisdom thought, feeling strangely jealous of Rude.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A swirling vortex appeared in the common room, from which the three friends emerged. Raven collapsed on the couch, exhausted after opening and closing the portal into her mind. Cyborg, Beast Boy in hand, walked to the elevator, intent on taking his friend to the medical bay.

"Ugh… did anyone get the number of that truck?" mumbled Beast Boy.

Cyborg froze.

"Truck? What truck?" asked a very confused Raven. Then the fact that it was _Beast Boy_ asking the question struck her, and she suddenly found herself not nearly as tired as she had first thought. Rushing to Cyborg's side, she tried to keep the excitement out of her voice as she stated the obvious.

"You're awake."

"Oh, hey Rae." Beast Boy looked very intently at Raven for a few seconds before patting Cyborg's shoulder. "Hey, tin can- could ya put me down for a second?"

Turning his head, Cyborg grinned. "You obviously must be feeling better, grass stain. You sure you're up for standing, though?" His expression suddenly turned very serious. "You _did_ die, after all."

"Yeah, I know. The afterlife is hella weird, by the way. But I'll tell you about that later- put me down!"

"But-"

Beast boy lightly smacked the back of Cyborg's head. "Down!"

"You-"

Smack. "Down!"

"Let me just-"

"Put me down, or I'll change the preset stations on the T-Car's radio."

Thud.

Beast Boy climbed to his feet, rubbing his behind and muttering under his breath. "Jerk."

"You asked for it," retorted Cyborg.

"Yes, but-" Beast Boy cut himself off as he remembered his reason for wanting to be let down from Cyborg's shoulder. He turned back to Raven, once more looking at her with a serious expression on his face.

Raven felt the blood drain from her face as she looked at the green changeling look at her. She couldn't read his expression at all- and to her, he'd always been an open book. Did he hate her for what she had done to her? For what her emotions had done to him? Affection had refused to give her any answers at all, leaving the empath in the dark as to the actual events that had transpired inside her own head.

Raven was almost so consumed by her worries that she didn't notice Beast Boy step forward and embrace her.

Almost. But not quite.

"I forgive you, Raven," he said quietly- so quietly, in fact, that Raven could barely hear him. "You're my best friend, and I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you. I forgive you for everything you've ever done, I'll forgive you for everything you ever do, and I can only hope that you'll always be able to forgive me for all the crap I pull too."

With silent tears running down her cheeks and the beginnings of a wild grin on her face, Raven enthusiastically returned the embrace. Whispering to herself as much as to her friend, she answered the changeling's request.

"I'll always forgive you, Beast Boy... always."

It was at this precise moment that the door to the common room opened to reveal a very surprised Starfire and Robin. The look on Robin's face, however, quickly changed to a smug grin as he saw his two friends in each others' arms.

"So-" began the Boy Wonder. Unfortunately, whatever he had planned on saying was interrupted by an incoming call, labeled URGENT.

Batman's visage appeared on the main monitor, and immediately his gaze was fixed on Robin. Seconds passed in silence as the pair stared at each other. Finally, the dark knight broke the silence.

"So Robin," he began. Suddenly, an image of him kissing Starfire's cheek filled half the screen. "What's this I'm hearing about 'RobStargate' on the news this morning?"

Cyborg sidled over to Beast Boy and Raven, who were still frozen in their hug, looks of shock etched on their features.

"Perhaps we should leave those three alone… does the medical bay sound like a suitable hideout?"

Not waiting for an answer, the robotic hero snatched up his two friends and led them to the waiting elevator.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, this is really weird," said Cyborg.

"Dude, you've only said that… one, two, four… a gazillion times in the last ten minutes! You mind explaining just _what_ is so weird, please?" cried Beast Boy.

"It's something that Intelligence brought up, and has been bothering me ever since she mentioned it. You," Cyborg pointed at Raven, "tried to heal BB's injuries before he died from them, correct?" Raven nodded. "You," he continued, pointing now at Beast Boy, "show no sign of any of the injuries that I found you with. Of those injuries, none of them would have even been life-threatening anyways."

"So?" asked Beast Boy, not quite grasping Cyborg's point.

"So? Dude, without any assistance from Raven, you've healed a broken collarbone, some broken ribs, multiple lacerations- without leaving any scars, I might add, and two fractured femurs. And your heart had stopped, for reasons I can't determine. My best guess would be blood loss, except that you show no signs of having lost a drop. You've never healed like this before, and Raven's healing mojo has never had a delayed effect before." Cyborg inhaled, and continued.

"What's weird is that I've found fewer injuries on you than what I find when you go hand-to-hand with Robin in combat practice, yet somehow you were grievously injured enough to _die_. There's an outside influence, and I want to know what it is."

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck unconsciously. "Well, it _might_ have something to do with something that happened while I was dead…"

"Yeah, you never did tell us what happened up at the pearly gates."

Beast Boy gave a nervous chuckle. "Heh… well, to be honest- I never saw any 'pearly gates,' so to speak. I did, however, have a short conversation with God's secretary, who I thought was Rachel Ray…" Beast Boy continued his narrative, telling his friends about "the short French dude with a stick up his butt" and the "nice lady worried about her daughter," finally arriving at the events following his leaving the waiting room.

"… she was all like 'You have friends in low places,' and I asked her what the _hell_ she was talking about, and she was all 'Funny you should put it that way.' I just kinda stared at her stupidly for a few seconds, and I think I annoyed her somehow, because she just started screaming at me about how I managed to somehow forget about getting- and I'm quoting here- 'Trigon the _fucking_ Terrible, who never even calls back,' to owe me a favor." Beast Boy paused to breathe, and Cyborg took advantage of the brief lull to interrupt.

"BB, I hate to imply that you were imagining things… but seriously, this is pretty nuts. I mean, the Purgatory Lounge? God's secretary? This sounds like something out of _Beetlejuice_ to me. Not to mention the fact that, from what I've seen, Trigon isn't exactly the kind of guy to be handing out favors to people." At this last point, Cyborg looked over to a very uncomfortable looking Raven, who nodded in agreement before finding a spot on the wall to draw her interest.

"Hey, I know it sounds really weird and all," began Beast Boy, "but it's what I remember. And besides, you have to admit, Angela wasn't exactly the type of person I would invent in my head. The French guy, maybe, but-" Beast Boy was interrupted by a crashing noise behind him. Turning his head to the source of the disturbance, he saw that one of the innumerable instruments Cyborg kept handy had been turned into a useless pile of parts. Snapping his attention to Raven, he was surprised to see her staring at him with a look of shock on her face.

"What… did you say her name was?" she slowly asked the changeling.

A sudden flash of realization hit Beast Boy, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his skull.

"Oh."

Cyborg looked at his two friends with a puzzled expression on his face. "Did… did I miss something really important here?"

Ignoring Cyborg's question, Raven posed one of her own to Beast Boy.

"Could… I mean, would you mind if… I mean, can I… see her?"

Beast Boy nodded.

Raven floated over towards the green superhero and slowly stretched her hand out until it rested on Beast Boy's forehead. Her eyes glowed white, and the last thing she heard before plunging into Beast Boy's memories was Cyborg's plaintive voice.

"Why doesn't anybody ever tell me what the hell is going on?"

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Robin buried his face in his hands, embarrassed beyond belief.

"I still do not understand, man of bats. Please, tell me once more about these 'birds' and 'bees,' and why they are of such vital importance to Robin and myself." Starfire somehow managed to procure a pen and pad of paper. "Perhaps I should take notes, this time."


	15. That's A Wrap!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans.

**Author's Note**: Do try not to choke on the fluff.

_Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death. _  
-James F. Bymes

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_**That's A Wrap!**_

Raven felt a strange sensation as she delved into Beast Boy's memories- it was as if an invisible hook was pulling her along by her sternum. The feeling vanished almost as soon as she identified it, and she found herself standing next to her green team mate.

"Woah," said Beast Boy, rubbing his chest. "That was… funky."

Raven nodded in silent agreement before looking around. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing but an empty white expanse stretching into infinity…

"There I am!" shouted Beast Boy, pointing off into the distance. Raven followed his gaze to see memory-Beast Boy walking towards a door. Running to catch up with the apparition, the pair entered the doorway to the Purgatory Lounge just before it closed.

"So, where are you now?" asked Raven, looking around the crowded waiting room.

"Just around the corner over there," said the changeling, pointing off into the distance. "Right past that biker gang." The pair moved in the direction he had indicated, until their quarry was sighted once more.

"Are you… are you talking to Napoleon Bonaparte?" asked an incredulous Raven.

"More like talking _at_, to be honest." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Is that… her?" Beast Boy pointed at the raven-haired woman sitting near the would-be-conqueror of Europe. Her gasp in response was all the answer he needed.

"Go on ahead," he said quietly. "I'll wait back here and give you some privacy." Nodding dumbly, Raven floated towards the changeling's memory-self, her eyes never leaving the woman he sat down next to and began chatting up. As she drew closer, she began to listen in on their conversation.

_So, how long have you been here, miss_? the green boy asked.

The woman looked him over before extending her hand, seemingly satisfied with her inspection.

_A few years,_ said the woman. _And please, call me Angela._

Raven felt her knees tremble, and clutched her cloak tightly around herself instinctively. Tuning out the conversation, she focused intently on the woman's face, studying it…

The half-demon let out a startled squeak when Angela jumped in her seat. Calming herself down, she began to pay more attention to the conversation taking place before her.

_Worried about something?_ her friend asked.

Angela turned away from Beast Boy and looked directly at Raven, heaving a sigh. She spoke very quietly, so that Raven found herself unable to make out what was being said. She could, however, hear Beast Boy's response.

_I know what you mean, sort of. There's… this girl that I know who used to be in that situation. All her life, she'd been told that she was destined to be nothing but trouble, but for as long as I've known her she's done everything she could to help people._

Raven unconsciously brought her hand to her chest, feeling very touched at his kind words- she knew immediately who he had been talking about. Even after all he had gone through at her hands…

_Finally, the thing that everyone was worried about came… and she beat it. She beat it good, too.__The girl's destined for great things- too bad I won't be there to see them_.

Suddenly, everything froze in place. Raven's eyes shot open in surprise, before spinning around to look for Beast Boy- the real one.

He was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't worry about your friend," came a soft voice behind her. "We're no longer in his memory, so you won't be able to see him."

Raven jumped and spun back around, coming face to face with…

"Mother…"

A serene smile found its way onto the face of Angela Roth as she looked down at her daughter. "So it's true," she said. "You defeated your father." The smile broke into a full-blown grin an instant before Raven felt herself enveloped in her mother's embrace. "I'm so happy, Raven. I was so worried for you." After a few moments, Angela pulled away to look at her daughter once more. Finally, Raven found her voice and began to speak.

"How… how are you here? How are we talking? I mean, you're-"

"Dead?" interrupted Angela, laughing gently. "Yes, well Trigon isn't the _only_ person around here with a few favors to call in. After your green friend spoke with me, I moved myself up to the front of the line for Judgment. One of the _many_ perks of being in Heaven is being allowed to occasionally speak with loved ones still on Earth." She cleared her throat before continuing in a businesslike tone. "But as much as I would love to sit and idly chat, we have much to discuss, and little time to do it."

Raven snapped out of her reverie and gave her mother a quizzical look. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

_The girl's destined for great things- too bad I won't be there to see them._

Raven's eyebrows shot into her forehead in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"I mean to speak with you about your green friend, Garfield," began Angela.

Raven could only gape in astonishment as Angela continued her speech.

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"Dude…" Beast Boy groaned, suffering from the beginnings of what promised to be a _very_ unpleasant headache. Slowly, his eyes opened, until finally the rested on the figure in front of him, holding his head in her hands.

"Hey Raven, ya there?" The girl in front of him provided no response. "Guess not. Hey Cy? You still here?" he asked.

"Yes, although I wouldn't say it's completely by choice," quipped a voice above him.

Being careful not to disturb the hands resting on his temples, the changeling looked up to see his friend pinned to the ceiling, along with every other object in the medical bay that wasn't nailed down. "Oh hey, what's up?"

Cyborg groaned. "Apparently, _I_ am. You mind telling a poor out-of-the-loop android just what the hell's going on here?"

"Oh," remembered Beast Boy, "that. Yeah, um… so I saw Raven's mom in the afterlife, and Rae wanted to see her, so she's rummaging through my memory."

"Well," started Cyborg, "that explains why everything's all topsy-turvy in here." He paused, as if just realizing something. "Wait a second, you're just letting her go through your memories? Isn't that kinda… private?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "I don't think she's in there anymore, actually- the only memory she would have been interested ran its course, and I trust her not to go poking through the other areas of my mind."

"Good poi-AAAUGH!" A resounding _thud_ was accompanied by a thousand little clatters as Raven emerged from her trance, her powers dropping everything from the ceiling that they had previously held there. Blinking a few times, she regained her bearings. Upon recognizing the changeling in front of her, she froze, eyes wide.

"Hey there, Rae- you alright there?" Before he knew it, the girl had tackled him to the ground into a sitting position and began crying into his shoulder incoherently.

Cyborg stood up and dusted himself off, glanced at the bawling empath, and quickly concluded that his presence was no longer required. "I'll be… somewhere else… if you guys need me." The bewildered Beast Boy gave no sign of acknowledgement as his friend high-tailed it out of the room.

Not knowing what else to do, the changeling tried his best to console the distraught half-demon in his arms. Tentatively, he placed one hand around her back while the other patted the back of her head. After a few minutes, her tears calmed down enough so that she was capable of forming intelligible words.

"I'm such a h-horrible person," she sobbed.

"Nonsense," came the whispered reply. "You're a wonderful person."

"I'm a h-horrible person," she repeated, "and a h-horrible friend to you. I'm always a b-bitch to y-you, and you're always s-so goddamn _nice_ to me, a-and I fucking _killed_ you-"

"Nonsense," he repeated, more forcefully this time. "You're a wonderful person, a terrific friend, I'm usually asking for it, you deserve nothing less, and I'm not dead, so you couldn't have killed me." As he spoke, he felt Raven's grip around his torso tighten, as though she were afraid he would vanish into thin air if she didn't hold onto him tightly enough.

The pair sat together for quite some time, neither moving an inch to disturb the other. Finally, Raven broke the silence. "She feels guilty."

Beast Boy looked down in confusion at the violet-haired girl squeezing the life out of him. "Huh?"

"Anger. She feels remorse for hurting you." She felt Beast Boy's unasked question and answered it. "She's not supposed to feel remorse. It's not part of who she is."

The green boy thought for a second before slowly beginning to stand up. "Well then, we'll have to fix that, won't we?"

Raven stood with him, blinking in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Suddenly she realized what he meant. "No!" she shouted, "I'm not letting you near her again! She's dangerous! What if she attacked you again?"

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"I don't know _how_ you talked me into this," Raven muttered darkly. She and Beast Boy were standing at the foot of a hill in the middle of the worst weather either of them had ever seen in their entire lives. A torrential rainstorm had taken up residence in the realm of Anger, bringing with it winds hard enough to sweep either of the Titans off their feet if it weren't for Raven's soul self. At the top of the hill sat a cold concrete building, where the pair assumed Anger was currently residing.

"Because you can't resist the Face," answered Beast Boy. Raven flushed and muttered something under her breath, but didn't bother to deny his assertion. The pair began their ascent of the hill before them when a voice to their side called them to a halt. As one, the two Titans turned to see who had spoken.

"I need to speak with Raven alone, Beast Boy," said Wisdom. "You may continue on to speak with Anger, if you still wish to do so. In fact, it would be best if you did so alone."

Beast Boy turned to continue up the hill, but Raven stopped him in his tracks. "Not a chance, there's not way I'm letting him in there without me. She's dangerous, out of control, and has already hurt him far too much for my taste."

"He would be safer alone, Raven," countered Wisdom, "because she has many reasons to attack you, and a very strong incentive not to attack him."

The half-demon frowned at her brown-cloaked counterpart. "I don't like it one bit."

Wisdom smiled sagely. "Sometimes, what is best and what we want are not the same thing. Beast Boy, you may go if you wish."

Beast Boy turned to Raven, questioningly. She frowned even more before grumpily waving him off. "Alright, but if she kills you again I'm going spend the next month studying necromancy _just_ so I can kick your ass for not listening to me."

The changeling chuckled nervously and dashed up the hill before Raven could change her mind. At the very top, he circled the building, trying to find a way in. Finally, he found a rusty door and kicked it in, happy to be closer to his objective- not to mention out of the reenactment of Noah's flood taking place outside. Walking around, he searched high and low for Anger, finally finding her rocking back and forth facing a wall in a prison cell.

"Hello?" he said as he stepped inside the cell, announcing his presence to the red emotion. She jumped up and backed into a corner, her eyes wide with fright.

"No, no! Stay back!" Immediately, Beast Boy raised his hands in an attempt to calm her down.

"Easy, easy, I'm not going to hurt you." This had no effect on her, and he slowly began to creep forward while being as little of a perceived threat as possible.

"No!" She screamed frantically, halting Beast Boy's forward advance. "I don't want to hurt you!" She threw a nervous glance over to something to the side of him, and he turned to investigate.

It was a picture frame, turned to face the wall. Picking it up, he saw that it was a picture of him. The Beast Boy in the photo was smiling happily at the camera.

"When was this taken?" he asked Anger, who was still trying to make herself as small as possible in the corner.

"J-just after the f-first time y-you came in here, after y-you helped Raven b-beat Trigon."

Beast Boy remembered that very clearly- especially the look on Raven's face after he had suggested he make her some herbal tea. It was the first time he'd ever seen her be… cute. He looked down at the picture again, before noticing that the glass of the frame was liberally spattered with blood. Licking his thumb, he proceeded to clean the frame, until all that was left was wood, glass, and a smiling changeling.

"There we go, that's better, isn't it?" he asked, setting the picture back down where he found it, but facing away from the wall. Anger nodded silently, the expression on her face clearly displaying the shock she felt. She had _killed_ him, and he was _comforting_ her?

Before she was completely aware of what he was doing, she found him sitting down next to her- not quite touching her shoulder with his, but coming close enough that she could, if she chose to.

She did.

"I'm… sorry," she choked out.

"I don't blame you in the least."

"I killed you."

"You weren't yourself."

"It was a terrible thing, even so."

"I forgive you."

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"You really should," said Wisdom. "I think you'll find the results to be quite pleasant."

"I… I still can't believe it," stuttered Raven. "I'm not supposed to-"

"Believe it," came a high-pitched voice from behind her. "And whoever told you that 'you weren't supposed to,'" continued Affection, "was a bloody idiot."

Wisdom nodded at her shorter sister. "Affection is right, and she _is_ the expert on such subjects." Suddenly, the brown-clad woman held out her hand and began looking around, confusedly. "When did it stop raining?"

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"Feel any better?"

Anger nodded, staring at her hands folded in her lap.

"You know what you need to do now?"

She shook her head.

"You need," he grunted, rising to his feet, "to get outside of this wretched cell." He turned and offered a hand to the girl sitting against the wall.

She shook her head.

"Yes, you do. Come on." He reached down, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to her feet. "It's a beautiful… whatever… outside, and it'd be criminal to spend it cooped up inside." He tried to pull her along, but she adamantly refused to budge. After tugging for a few seconds, he tried a different approach. "Why don't you want to go outside?"

"I'm… afraid."

"Of what?"

She shook her head, not answering the question.

Beast Boy stared at her for a few seconds before making his decision. "Well, I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, so…"

Before she knew it, Anger found herself out in the sun, resting on the shoulders of a five-hundred pound gorilla.

Gingerly setting her down, Beast Boy reverted to his human form. "See? Isn't this much more pleasant than that dark, dank, and fairly run-down prison cell?" He turned away from her, spreading his arms wide towards where he suspected the light was coming from- there wasn't an actual _sun_ to speak of, after all.

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"You're absolutely certain?" asked Raven.

"For the millionth time," grumbled Intelligence, Wisdom, Affection, Happy, Brave, and Rude in unison, "YES!"

"He might not…" mumbled Timid.

Raven paled slightly as the shy girl was almost instantly buried underneath a host of frustrated emotions trying to shut her up. The dust cleared, and Timid lay bound and gagged at their feet.

"Well…" said a slightly shocked Raven, "okay then."

The conversation was interrupted by a high-pitched scream coming from the direction of Anger's prison. As one, Raven and her emotional entourage (Timid too) teleported to the scene of the crime.

"Hey girls," said Anger, upon their arrival. She had an evil grin plastered on her face, accompanied by four glowing red eyes.

Sixteen hands crackled with black energy, ready to strike down the rogue-

"My poor tooshie!" cried Beast Boy, hopping around in circles.

Anger raised a slightly bloody patch of cloth, the grin still on her face. "I got a souvenir."

Immediately, Wisdom dashed over to the stricken changeling. "Don't worry, I'll fix you right up." Ignoring her sisters' snickering, she laid a hand on Beast Boy's wound, quickly bringing forth the healing energy to close the cuts left by Anger's enthusiastic collection methods.

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The two popped out of the mirror into Raven's room, collapsing on the floor in a heap. Immediately, Raven began apologizing for the trauma her friend had suffered.

"Raven- don't worry about it. It's no big deal, really." He paused for a little bit before letting out a laugh. "It's actually kind of flattering, actually."

Raven felt her knees tremble, and assumed it was because all the blood in her body was currently busy turning her cheeks bright red. Then, remembering the conversation that had taken place outside Anger's prison, she decided to make her move.

"Beast Boy, we need to talk."

Immediately, his sounds of mirth were replaced with a look that _screamed_ "I didn't do it."

Sitting down on her bed, she patted the space beside her, indicating that he sit down. He did.

"This whole fiasco," she began, staring straight ahead, "has made me realize something about myself."

"Same," said Beast Boy, nodding his head as he too, looked straight ahead.

"Now, I've done some thinking, and I think it's time I act on this idea I have."

Beast Boy nodded, focusing intently on the wall in front of him.

"I know I'm not the most outgoing and friendly of people, but I want you to know that even if this… idea… doesn't work as I hope it will, I don't want anything to change between us. You told Timid that I'm your best friend."

He nodded again, and she turned to face him.

"I don't want to be your best friend."

Beast Boy's eyes widened, then fell to the floor as his shoulders rolled forward.

"I want to be something more."

The emerald hero jerked as though he'd been electrically shocked, before twisting around and looking into Raven's eyes.

For once, he didn't say anything. He didn't have to.

That damn smile said all she'd ever need to know.

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_Two Weeks Later…_

"By Azar, it's a beautiful night tonight."

Beast Boy and Raven sat up on the roof, staring up at the stars. Or, at least _Raven_ was staring up at the stars.

"Mmhmm… beautiful…"

Smiling in spite of herself, Raven chided the changeling beside her. "Stop that- I don't even need to use my empathy to figure out what _you're_ looking at."

Beast Boy chuckled, leaning into his slightly taller girlfriend and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, I've got a ruined uniform that says you're just as dirty as I am."

Raven turned her head away from him to hide her blush. "God only knows what would have happened if we'd been in _your_ head."

She couldn't see it, but she still knew that Beast Boy had paled considerably- quite the feat, in view of his complexion. "And I hope to _keep_ it that way, too." He let out a yawn and looked down at his watch. "Not to change the subject, but we should probably hit the sack- it's getting late, and Robin hasn't really been too keen on 'I was on the roof with my totally gorgeous, awesome, funny-"

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't we?"

"-smart, and awesome girlfriend all night' as an excuse to skip practice."

"You said 'awesome' twice," said Raven drolly.

"Well... you're just that cool."

Rolling her eyes, the half-demon stood up, with Beast Boy following suit.

"Oh hey, what's that?" Raven's eyes followed Beast Boy's finger over to a small rock sitting on the rooftop. "How'd a rock get all the way up here?"

Raven let a satisfied smirk flash across her face as her boyfriend strolled over to the stone. She hadn't forgotten about all of those ruined cloaks yet.

"Well, it's not supposed to be up here, now is it?" Bending down, the changeling picked up the rock-

-and threw it off the roof. Turning around, he studied his wide-eyed friend.

"I dunno, Raven- I don't think Silly String really suits you." Hearing the beginnings of a growl rumble in her throat, he wasted no time in dashing off into the Tower, laughing maniacally. She wasted no time in giving chase.

She finally caught up with him in the common room- the cackling had left him too winded to run properly. Falling to the ground in front of the couch, he rolled on the ground as she stood over him.

Finally, she had had enough. Reaching down, she grabbed him by the collar, pulled him to his feet, and shut him up in the most direct manner she could think of- kissing him.

"Ahem."

Raven and Beast Boy flew apart, looking around for the source of the noise.

" Garfield?"

In a flash of recognition, Beast Boy turned, trembling, to the giant communications monitor.

"Mento? Sir?"

The helmeted telekinetic raised an eyebrow at his adopted son. "Well, I _was_ calling Robin, but" he looked over at Raven, "_this_ is much more important."

"This?" squeaked Beast Boy, looking over at Raven. She looked like she didn't quite know what to make of the situation- she could tell Beast Boy was feeling anxious about Mento's call, but she didn't know _why_.

"Yes. This." Mento cleared his throat nervously. "You see, when a, um… half-demon… uh, _tolerates_ a, uh… changeling… very much…"

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**END **


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